Thus, we can reach zero percent extreme poverty by the end of 2024.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has expressed hope that the extreme poverty rate in Indonesia will decline to eight percent by the beginning of 2024.

"Thus, we can reach zero percent extreme poverty by the end of 2024," he said after chairing a coordination meeting on accelerating extreme poverty handling at the Maluku Governor Office in Ambon City on Wednesday.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, currently, 10.86 million Indonesian people – or about 4 percent of the nation's total population – live in extreme poverty.

The government is targeting to lift 20 percent of the poor out of poverty in 2021, 35 percent in 2022 and 2023 each, and the rest in 2024, Amin said.

Hence, by the end of 2021, the government is targeting to lifting2,096,771 people out of extreme poverty in 35 districts in seven provinces (West Java, Central Java, East Java, Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, Papua, and West Papua), he said.

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The government is developing a number of social protection programs and community empowerment programs to solve the problem, Amin noted.

For accomplishing the target for this year, the government has provided additional assistance in the form of the Basic Necessities and Village Fund Cash Transfer Programs to 35 districts, he said.

"In addition to the programs, there is another program for accelerating the resolving of extreme poverty conducted in the last three months, which is social assistance,” the Vice President said.

Furthermore, he said he had asked each local government to prepare related programs to continue poverty eradication efforts next year.

"While also preparing for the programs that will be implemented in 2022, we (the central government) accept any suggestion and proposal from the regional governments to become our consideration for developing a framework for solving extreme poverty," he added.

Related news: Vice President leads meeting on ending extreme poverty in Maluku

Translator: Fransiska Ninditya, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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