Jakarta (ANTARA) - Around 77,000 poor families have graduated from social assistance programs and become self-reliant during the first year of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf said on Monday.

The families were former recipients of government aid under the Family Hope Program (PKH), he said.

“This year, more than 77,000 beneficiary families have graduated, meaning they will no longer receive social assistance in the coming years,” Yusuf told reporters in Jakarta.

For next year, the ministry aims to help more than 300,000 PKH beneficiaries become economically independent and no longer dependent on government aid.

“The President wants beneficiaries to level up — not only to receive assistance, but also to be supported and guided to become empowered and self-sufficient,” he said.

Yusuf expressed confidence that the target can be achieved through a balanced approach between social protection and empowerment programs to prevent inequality.

“Going forward, we want a balance between social protection and empowerment. Families must be encouraged not to rely on assistance but to stand on their own feet,” he said.

The Indonesian government has set a goal to reduce the extreme poverty rate to zero and the general poverty rate to 4.5 percent by 2029.

Data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) showed that as of March 2025, the poverty rate stood at 8.47 percent, or 23.85 million people — the lowest level in two decades.

BPS also reported that the number of people living in extreme poverty fell to 2.38 million in March 2025, down by 1.18 million from the same period a year earlier.

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Translator: M Riezko, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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