Izzudin Farras of Indef said on Thursday that the lack of a social cushion could pose a risk to the economy, as the capital city accounted for nearly one fifth of Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“If Jakarta’s economy remains negative in the third quarter, with the apparent impact since July and August, it will hit the national economy and indicate recession at the national level,” Izzudin said in a virtual discussion.

Izzudin added that the government needed to improve its social assistance programs by placing more emphasis on the millions of vulnerable members of the middle class who were prone to falling into poverty because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers should expand and update the Social Affairs Ministry’s Integrated Data for Social Welfare (DTKS), he said, to cover 60 percent of the nation’s poorest people, an increase from the bottom 40 percent currently accounted for.

“With updates and a large amount of data, the government can make social assistance better targeted to middle-lower-class people,” said Izzudin.

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