Poverty down on stable inflation, rising income

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 08/26/2008 4:34 PM  |  National

The country's poverty rate during March declined by 2.21 million to 34.86 million, or approximately 15.42 percent of the population, compared to a year before, the government announceed Tuesday.

Coordinating Minister for Economy Sri Mulyani Indrawati said factors contributing to the poverty rate improvement were: stable inflation growth, rice price decreases, rising farmer incomes and increased employment.

Mulyani said the year-on-year inflation as of the end of March reached 8.17 percent, while the average price of rice dropped by 3.01 percent from Rp 6,414 a kilogram in March 2007 to Rp 6,221 per kilogram in March 2008.

Moreover, she said, about 70 percent of poor people living in villages who worked in the agriculture sector and other labor sector saw their income increase by 9.88 percent from Rp 14,932 per day in March 2008 to Rp 16,407 in March this year.

The open employment rate, she said, reached 9.75 percent of the total population or about 10.55 million people in February 2007 and dropped to 9.43 million in February 2008. (and)

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