Addressing poverty remains an enduring challenge necessitating continued and strategic endeavors. In the last year of President Joko Widodo’s tenure, 2024, the government has articulated a goal to curtail the extreme poverty rate by a range of 0%-1%. This specific target has been codified within the framework of the 2024 State Budget Law, a legislative milestone enacted on Thursday (21/9/2023).
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has shed light on the mechanisms to actualize this target, underscoring the deployment of various programs aimed at augmenting income levels.
She iterated, “Through the implementation of labor-intensive programs and the utilization of the pre-employment card,” elucidating the avenues through which this poverty-reduction objective will be realized.
As of March 2023, the extreme poverty rate still persisted at 1.12%, thus mandating a minimum reduction of 0.12% in the impending year to meet the government’s set goal.
Prior to this, Minister of National Development Planning (PPN) and Head of Bappenas, Suharso Monoarfa, emphatically stated the government’s unwavering commitment to alleviating extreme poverty until 2024. This commitment entails a multifaceted approach involving the optimization of targeted social assistance to alleviate financial burdens, socio-economic empowerment via the assurance of income growth, and the broadening of access to fundamental services.
Suharso underscored this multi-dimensional approach, affirming that some strategies have yielded positive outcomes, albeit a considerable segment of beneficiaries still grapple with challenges that necessitate remediation through the Regsosek program.
It is worth noting that the 2024 State Budget represents the final fiscal blueprint during President Joko Widodo’s tenure. The focus of this budget extends beyond the mere management of financial resources; it is a pivotal instrument designed to expedite the reduction of poverty, elevate the well-being of citizens, and forge the path towards long-term human capital development, thus disrupting the cyclical nature of impoverishment.
Within this overarching goal lies the sphere of social protection (perlindungan sosial), endowed with a substantial budget allocation amounting to Rp493.5 trillion. President Jokowi formally disclosed this allocation during his address at the DPR Plenary Session, where the Draft State Budget and Financial Notes for the 2024 Fiscal Year were presented earlier in the year (16/8/2023).
In pursuit of nurturing a populace that is both healthy and productive, the health sector has been accorded a budgetary provision of Rp186.4 trillion, constituting 5.6% of the State Budget. This allocation is not solely directed at health but also endeavors to hasten the reduction of stunting prevalence, aiming to reach a 14% threshold by 2024.
This endeavor envisages an expansion of coverage, spanning all districts and cities across Indonesia, while fostering a robust synergy among diverse institutions to manifest these ambitious targets.
