Prabowo Aims to Reduce Poverty to Between 6.0 and 6.5 Percent by 2027

JAKARTA — President Prabowo Subianto has targeted reducing Indonesia’s poverty rate to between 6.0% and 6.5% by 2027, lower than the 2026 target of 6.5% to 7.5%. ‘That growth must be reflected in a real improvement in the welfare of the people. Therefore, the poverty rate is targeted to fall to the 6.0–6.5% range from the previous target of 6.5–7.5%,’ Prabowo said at a plenary meeting delivering the Macro Economic Framework (MEF) and the Main Points of Fiscal Policy (PPKF) for the RAPBN 2027, at the Parliament Complex in Jakarta, on Wednesday 20 May 2026.

However, the figure runs counter to what is on the ground, as he sees poverty rising and the middle class shrinking. ‘I feel as if I have been punched in the stomach. Ladies and gentlemen, seven years times five percent, 35 percent; our economy has grown by 35 percent, yet the number of people who are poor has increased,’ Prabowo said.

‘The middle class is shrinking, ladies and gentlemen. I ask before this august assembly, I ask all political parties, all organisations, all experts and all leading scholars: how can growth be 35 percent but the middle class decline and poverty rise?’ He added.

Nevertheless, all these advantages have not been fully felt by the Indonesian people. He even noted that Indonesia has the lowest ratio of expenditure to gross domestic product (GDP) among countries in the G20. Even in Southeast Asia (ASEAN), Indonesia is behind Malaysia, the Philippines and Cambodia.

‘We must introspect and be aware and be brave to ask why we cannot manage our economy,’ Prabowo said. It is hoped that lowering the poverty rate can improve the level of inequality in Indonesia. ‘The gap between the wealthiest and the poorest cannot continue to widen and must be narrowed,’ Prabowo asserted.