Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – The populous Indonesia is aiming to be free of extreme poverty in 2025 as the government allocates hundreds of trillions of rupiahs for social protection programs in Prabowo Subianto's first year in office.

Indonesia dreams of unlocking a golden era in its centennial in 2045, but that means the country will have to make sure that it eliminates extreme poverty. The World Bank states that extreme poverty refers to the situation when people have to survive with less than $1.90 a day. People in extreme poverty also struggle to access basic needs such as food, clean water, healthcare, and education, among others.

The government reported that the nationwide extreme poverty rate had dropped from 1.12 percent in March 2023 to 0.83 percent in the same month the following year. While this marked a drastic decline, there is still less than a percent to go before Indonesia can declare itself as having gotten rid of extreme poverty.

"Our extreme poverty rate currently stands at 0.83 percent. We are hoping to bring it down to close to 0.5 percent by the end of this year, and further to 0 percent next year. If that happens, I'm sure the nationwide poverty rate will go down," National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa said at The Jakarta Globe's 2025 Economic Perspective forum on Monday.

According to the 2025 government work plan, Indonesia wants to cut down the poverty rate to between 7 and 8 percent. The Central Statistics Agency reported that Indonesia's poverty rate stood at 9.03 percent as of March. This is equivalent to about 25.22 million people.

Suharso said the year 2025 would be a window of opportunity that Indonesia should not miss out on if it still intends to achieve a golden era in 2045. The minister added: "That is why we are trying to make sure the 2025 state budget accommodates all programs of President-Elect [Prabowo Subianto].... And we are giving quite a large fiscal room to the president-elect."

In 2025, the government is planning to spend no more than Rp 504.7 trillion (nearly $32.7 billion) for social protection programs. This is the highest social assistance budget that the government has had over the past years. In Covid-hit 2021, the government spent Rp 408.8 trillion for social protection with the expenditure rising to Rp 431.5 trillion the following year. The social protection budget also soared to Rp 476 trillion in 2023, and the government has set a cap of Rp 496.8 trillion for such expenditure throughout the entirety of 2024.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/indonesia-wants-to-be-free-of-extreme-poverty-next-yea