40 percent of Indonesians poor

40 percent of Indonesians poor

JAKARTA: Forty percent of 210 million Indonesians live under
the poverty line, according to the National Family Planning
Coordinating Agency Yaumil Agoes Achir.

The figure is a dramatic increase on statistics prior to the
economic crisis in July, 1997 when 11 percent of the population
lived below the poverty line, Yaumil said after meeting with Vice
President Hamzah Haz on Wednesday.

Yaumil, who met Hamzah to discuss preparations for a census,
said it oversaw not only family planning but also the improvement
of people's welfare.

Yaumil said he was yet to obtain the exact figure but
Indonesia's average income was put at between Rp 300,000 and Rp
350,000 (between US$30 and $35) a month.

"With that level of monthly salary only the very basic needs
can be fulfilled," he said. --Antara