Poor aren't getting poorer: Ginandjar

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's rich may be getting richer, but its poorest citizens have not been getting poorer, State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita said yesterday.

Ginandjar, who also chairs the National Development Planning Board, refuted the suggestion that the poorest people in Indonesia have not enjoyed the fruits of development, in spite of the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

"It is not true that the people at the lowest layer have not advanced under the development program," Ginandjar told reporters after he and the chairman of the Central Bureau of Statistics, Arsyad Anwar, met with President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace.

Those who suggest that the poor are getting poorer have based their analysis on statistical indicators such as the number of people who live below the poverty line, Ginandjar said.

Had they used figures for the incomes of the people in the lowest 40 percent, they would have learned that there has been improvement, he added. "The point is that these poor people also experienced rapid growth".

On the other hand, Ginandjar admitted that those in the upper income bracket experienced much faster growth in their incomes. "This is because they are in a better position to take advantage of the opportunities offered through economic deregulation, export (incentives), credit facilities and others."

"The widening income disparity has been caused by the different rates of income growth. It does not mean that the incomes of the poorest people have been stagnant or that they have become poorer."

According to the latest official statistics, nearly 26 million of Indonesia's 195 million people still live below the poverty line. The government has designed various programs to improve their lot.

"I just want to emphasize here that the President is truly concerned about the income disparity and that he is seriously handling the problem," Ginandjar said.

The minister also rejected suggestions that the Indonesian economy is dominated by a few conglomerates.

Comparing their sales and revenue turnover to the gross national product is misleading, he asserted, because the turnover calculates not only the sales but also the entire production costs at every stage of manufacturing.

To measure their real contribution to the GDP, Ginandjar suggested that the added value incurred by the companies would be a more appropriate measurement. (emb)