As Indonesia’s poverty struggles persist, Prabowo’s growth goals look elusive

Data from the government’s statistics agency shows that 25.22 million people in Indonesia, or 9.03 per cent of the population, were living below the poverty line of 582,932 rupiah (US$37) per month as of March last year.

Prabowo, who was inaugurated as president in October, has set a target poverty rate of around 5 per cent by the end of his term in 2029.

In December, officials from his administration announced they were seeking to eradicate extreme poverty – defined by the World Bank as living on less than US$1.90 a day – within the next two years. As of February last year, there were around 6 million Indonesians in this bracket, according to government data, or 2.16 per cent of the population.

“We are especially targeting the eradication of extreme poverty. We aim to reduce overall poverty to a maximum of 5 per cent,” Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar, Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, said at the time.

“I ask all related ministries to improve infrastructure, enhance efforts to build human resources, and ensure access to direct help.”