Asked about the Burden on the Middle Class, Coordinating Minister Muhaimin: Be Patient First

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar has asked middle-class and vulnerable poor communities to be patient regarding the ongoing gradual handling of poverty.

“We are currently addressing extreme poverty and the poor first. Once this task is completed, we will move on to tackling those vulnerable to poverty,” said Coordinating Minister Muhaimin Iskandar at the Ministerial Level Meeting in Jakarta on Monday.

According to him, during the one and a half years of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, the focus remains on reducing the number of poor and extremely poor individuals.

“Of course, the government has only been in place for one and a half years; there will come a time when we move to address those vulnerable to poverty. Be patient, we will continue to work hard, but the most important thing is to first complete the task of extreme poverty,” said Muhaimin Iskandar.

The government targets achieving zero per cent extreme poverty by the end of 2026.

Based on 2026 data from the Central Statistics Agency, the number of people vulnerable to poverty is currently 67.93 million souls, or an increase of 24.12 per cent.

Meanwhile, the number of people approaching the middle class is 141.95 million souls, or a decrease of 50.41 per cent.

The number of poor people is 23.85 million souls.

The middle class consists of 46.71 million people, or 16.59 per cent. The upper class is only 1.18 million people, or 0.42 per cent.

According to him, the number of people vulnerable to poverty is still very large and tends to increase due to global crises.

“On the other hand, we continue to work as hard as possible to ensure that the middle class does not downgrade. Our middle class is a class that has vulnerabilities due to economic shocks stemming from various problems, both national and global,” said Muhaimin Iskandar at the opening of the National Working Meeting of the Open University Alumni Association in Bogor, West Java, on Thursday (9/4).