Our efforts to identify the poor people through the Social and Economic Registration (Regsosek)  survey will ensure that all instruments of APBN will far more focus on the poor group.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The state budget (APBN) will serve as the government's instrument to lower the poverty rate in Indonesia next year, according to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

"Our efforts to identify the poor people through the Social and Economic Registration (Regsosek) survey will ensure that all instruments of APBN will far more focus on the poor group," she said in Jakarta on Thursday.

The APBN instruments will increasingly play an optimal role in curbing the poverty rate through data improvement by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) based on the Regsosek survey, she said.

According to her, the data improvement will help the government in distributing social assistance, village funds, and non-physical special allocation funds to the public more accurately.

Moreover, the effort to lower the poverty rate is also the responsibility and target of all ministries, institutions, and regions, the minister said.

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"If we have the same step, we hope it will be able to lower (the poverty rate) in a far more systematic and accountable manner," she said.

Meanwhile, Chief of the Fiscal Policy Board of the Finance Ministry Febrio Kacaribu noted that the number of people living in poverty is targeted to reach 7.5–8.5 percent of the population, based on the development indicators for 2023.

Kacaribu said he is optimistic that the target will be achieved if is supported by strong policies, including social protection, such as the Family Hope Program (PHK) and social assistance.

However, the commitment to curb the poverty rate is not a short-term but a long-term one because the government must strengthen people's resilience, he added.

"Of course, this needs close cooperation and collaboration from the central government down to regional governments," he said.

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Translator: Astrid Faidlatul H, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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