Puan: People's Welfare Steadily Improves Under Jokowi Government

Jakarta, (Antara Sumbar) - Coordinating Minister for Human and Culture Development Puan Maharani said the people's welfare has improved in the first three years of the administration of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

The human development index (IPM) rose in value from 68.9 in 2014 to 69.5 in 2015, to 70.19 in 2016 and to 70.79 in 2017, Puan said here on Monday.

Meanwhile, the gin index declined steadily from 0.414 in 2014 to 0.402 in 2015, to 0.394 in 2016, and to 0.393 in 2017, she added.

"The IPM growth in 2015-2016 was 0.91 percent , higher than an average growth of 0.78 percent in the period of 2010-2015. The improvement placed Indonesia for the first time in the category of High Human Development in 2016, she said.

The decline in the Gini index is reflected by the rise in the purchasing power of 40 percent of the lowest income people, she said.

Based on data from the office of the Coordinating Minister for Human and Cultural Development, spending by that group of people rose from 17.02 percent in 2016 to 17.12 percent in 2017.

The rise in the IPM value and the decline in the Gini index means an decline in poverty ratio in Indonesia. In 2014 the poverty ratio in the country was 11.25 percent.

In 2015-2017, the country's poverty ratio dropped from 11.22 in 2015 to 10.86 percent in 2016 and to 10.64 percent in 2017.

"The government's program to meet the people's essential needs is through food and health assistance, guarantee in educational access, and subsidy. The government's social aid program could sustain 26-30 percent of household spending of poor families," Puan said. (*)

Editor: Vicha Faradika