Program on reducing poverty

In response to an article that appeared on page 2 of The Jakarta Post on April 17, on a new crash program to revive the Indonesian economy proposed by an economist from the United Nations Support Facility for Indonesian Recovery (UNSFIR), I would like to offer the following comments:

While this idea is very populist, there are concerns that could be raised regarding the effectiveness of past crash programs in actually alleviating the suffering of poor Indonesians. These programs were not effective, given that they were not well targeted and were vulnerable to significant leakages, which made them less successful in achieving their aim to reduce poverty among Indonesians.

Introducing a similar program without significant reform in governance would doom the program from the start. The program should be carefully monitored by independent observers so that possible abuses could be kept to a minimum, allowing the program to fully meet its intended goals.

To minimize leakages, the program should be delivered by the private sector or by non-governmental organizations instead of by government agencies, which were the source of the leakages in past crash programs.

Lastly, the crash program should not be created by generating new budget deficits that would increase the nation's inflation rate. Doing so would only damage Indonesia's macroeconomic stability and hamper our recovery from the prolonged economic crisis.

ALEX ARIFIANTO The SMERU Research Institute Jakarta