The percentage of Indonesians living in extreme poverty, those living on less than US$1.90 at purchasing power parity a day, is estimated at 4 percent, according to the National Team for Accelerated Poverty Reduction (TNP2K), quoting Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
This year, the government aims to reduce the rate to 3.8 percent, focusing on 35 cities and regencies in West Java, Central Java, East Java, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, West Papua and Papua. Some one-fifth of the population in these cities and regencies are currently living in extreme poverty, according to TNP2K.
BPS figures show that as of March 2021, the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had pushed 1.12 million Indonesians into poverty. Poverty rate rose again to 10.14 percent, destroying the achievement after three years of efforts of the country.
To further achieve the set targets, the Government of Indonesia will continue to promote poverty reduction in 100 districts and cities across the country, with the determination to bring the extreme poverty rate down to 3- 3.5 percent in 2022, and 2.5-3 percent in 2023.
This year, the Indonesian government has allocated 440,690 billion rupiah to a variety of programmes aimed at improving the lives of the poor.
