In the World Happiness Report 2015, released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network on Thursday (23/04), Indonesia ranks 74th in terms of citizens’ happiness. The report measures the degree of happiness in 158 countries around the globe by using six variables: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and freedom from corruption. Although Indonesia climbed two spots in the 2015 Happiness Index, the country still trails behind regional peers.

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Indonesian Finance Minister Chatib Basri stated that the Indonesian government plans to set aside a total of IDR 10 trillion (USD $837 million) in the state budgets of 2014 as well as 2015 to support the poor people of Indonesia through social safety programs. This is yet another indication that prices of subsidized fuels will be raised before the end of the year. Recently, it has been increasingly speculated that Indonesian president-elect Joko Widodo (“Jokowi”) will raise these prices by IDR 3,000 (USD $0.25) per liter.

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The World Bank released a news update which states that poverty reduction in Indonesia continues to slow down, with only a reduction of 0.7 percentage points over the last two years, or the smallest decline in the last decade. Meanwhile the institution says that inequality also increased in recent years, potentially disrupting social cohesion and hence jeopardizing the gains from solid economic growth, which has helped to reduce the poverty rate to 11.3 percent in 2014, compared to 24 percent in 1999.

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