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Millions of Indonesians at risk of falling back into poverty, World Bank warns
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A stage director looks on at the IMF/World Bank Annual Fall Meetings Plenary Session in Washington, DC, on October 18, 2019. (AFP/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
T
he World Bank has called on Indonesia to expand its poverty eradication efforts to protect the millions of citizens it says are in danger of falling back into poverty, despite the country’s achievements in improving the lot of its people over the past decades.
Less than 1.5 percent of Indonesians were living under the World Bank’s extreme poverty line of US$1.9 per day as of 2022, according to the development lender’s data, far below 19 percent recorded two decades ago.
Eradication of extreme poverty has been a priority of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. He hopes to end it completely by 2024.
However, 16 percent of Indonesians remained below the World Bank’s standard poverty line of US$3.2 per day as of 2022.
The lender found that more than 40 percent of Indonesians were economically insecure – half of the people classified as not poor, according to its 2019 data.
This insecurity meant members of the group could fall into poverty when exposed to shocks, such as a pandemic, natural disaster or economic downturn.
