Jakarta: Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, said at a coordinating meeting on the strategy to handle national poverty, held at the Ambara Hotel, Jakarta, on Wednesday (28/4) that the funds to eradicate poverty problems in Indonesia have reached Rp18 trillion this year.

Dorodjatun added that this figure had been arrived after he identified this matter with several ministries.

“I think that around Rp18 trillion of funds will have to be given to Indonesian people,” said Dorodjatun.

According to him, this amount of money has been distributed to several ministries. “This is because the State Budget allowances for the support of poor people have been allocated to various ministries, non-ministerial government institutions and local governments,” he stated.

Dorodjatun said that several factors had caused poverty problems such as limited work opportunities, low rate of asset ownership, lack of access towards educational facilities and weaknesses in the government performance and social protection.

According to Dorodjatun, the government needs to increase the economic growth rate to overcome this situation. “We must increase the economic growth up to 7 percent per year. Aside than that, we must also lower the inflation rate. It’s a pity if people get money to live on, but prices keep increasing,” he said.

Dorodjatun stated that the government also had made efforts so that investors would keep investing in Indonesia. "A good legislative election and the upcoming presidential election will be able to bring investors back to Indonesia and invest here,” he predicted. (Tempo Interactive)