31 million Indonesians below poverty line

Despite a slight decrease, there are still 31 million Indonesians living in poverty. According to the countries Central Statistics Agency, that is still a drop of 1.5 million Indonesians from March of last year. The 31 million people translates to 33 percent of the countries population.

From the Jakarta Post, we read this analysis of the numbers.

However, BPS chief Rusman Heriawan said this year’s figures were less than the reduction witnessed in March last year (down 2.43 million).

“We have seen a reduction in the number of people living below the poverty line, but it wasn’t as big as we had hoped,” Rusman said at his office on Thursday.

He said the reduction was largely a result of improved stability in the market prices of basic foods.

“The bigger reduction in the number of people living in poverty last year was thanks to the direct-cash aid program provided by the government to the poor,” he said.

“Cash aid was very effective in reducing poverty in that period,”
he said.

Between March 2009 and 2010, the total number of poor people in urban areas declined by 0.81 million, more than in rural areas where the total declined 0.69 million, the report says.