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