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Indonesia to strive for poverty rate below 10 percent
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National Development Planning Minister/National Development Planning Board head Bambang Brodjonegoro (The Jakarta Post/wienda parwitasari)
N
ational Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro has said that the government plans to lower the poverty rate to below 10 percent this year, from the 10.2 percent recorded late last year.
"[A poverty rate of] 10.12 percent is the lowest [recorded] in Indonesian history. We hope it will fall below 10 percent this year," said Bambang on Wednesday, after attending a plenary Cabinet meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta, Antara reported .
On Tuesday, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced that the number of people living below the poverty line was 26.58 million in September 2017, or 10.12 percent of the total population.
The Indonesian poverty rate was 11.13 percent in September 2015 and 10.70 percent in September 2016.
Bambang, who is also head of the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), said he had spoken to members of the House of Representatives about the government's poverty eradication target.
He added that although the poverty rate could be lowered, the government was still addressing the problems faced by people living in extreme poverty.
"We must improve their living standards by ensuring that social assistance reaches them this year," he stressed. (bbn)
