Indonesia: Stable food prices reduce poverty rate

Illustrative image. (Photo: Internet)

Jakarta (VNA) – The stability of food prices in recent years has aided Indonesia’s poverty reduction, according to the Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

A recent BPS report shows that the poverty and income inequality rates in Indonesia in September 2017 fell from a year ago, largely owing to efforts to control the inflation and the government’s rice subsidy programme.

At that time, an estimated 26.6 million Indonesians, or 10 percent of the country’s population, lived below the poverty line, down from nearly 27.8 million in September 2016. The number was also lower than that of March 2017.

The country’s poverty rate began to decline since 1999, when approximately 25 percent of the population was poor.

Foods account for about 20 percent of the poor’s monthly expenses in Indonesia. A person is classified as poor when he/she spends less than 25 USD per month.

Rice production and distribution was one of the topics discussed during a meeting on February 27 between Indonesian President Joko Widodo and 11 economists in agriculture and fisheries. The economists agreed with the president’s view that stable food prices will have positive impacts on farmers' earnings.-VNA