According to the latest data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) there were 28.01 million Indonesians living below the poverty line in March 2016, or 10.86 percent of the total Indonesian population. This is an improvement from September 2015 when Indonesia's poverty figure stood at 11.13 percent, or 28.51 million in absolute terms. Indonesia's central statistics agency releases the nation's poverty figures twice per year, covering the months March and September.

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The government of Indonesia will soon unveil a new economic policy package, the 13th in the series of packages that have been released since September 2015 with as overall aim to boost Indonesia's economic growth. Indonesian Chief Economics Minister Darmin Nasution said the 13th edition, which is currently being discussed among government officials, will focus on residential property for low income families. However, he refrained from providing more details at this stage.

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Indonesia's Gini ratio (or Gini coefficient), which measures the degree of inequality in income distribution, improved slightly in September 2015. According to the latest data published by Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the Gini ratio of Indonesia fell from 0.41 in March 2015 to 0.40 in September 2015, indicating that income distribution inequality slightly declined (a coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality, while a reading of 1 implies maximal inequality). The modest improvement occurred in the urban areas of Indonesia where the Gini ratio fell 0.1 point to 0.43. In the rural areas the ratio remained stagnant at 0.33.

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Indonesia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) appreciates the 11 economic stimulus packages that have been released by the central government since September 2015. However, Kadin regrets to see that the central government does not put the issue of job creation as the basis of any package. Rosan Roeslani, Chairman of Kadin (and whose name was mentioned in the controversial Panama Papers), said all 11 packages answer to the desires of certain groups (such as investors and industries) but unemployment remains untackled.

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Indonesian Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman has a strong suspicion that the "rice mafia" is behind the recent fluctuations in rice supply and prices in Indonesia. Suspicion emerged after new rice supplies suddenly 'flooded' Indonesian markets in February when prices of rice had already risen due to the scarcity of supplies. Sulaiman believes there is a cartel consisting of six big Indonesian rice distributors that deliberately hid rice output after last year's harvest and waited for prices to rise significantly before supplying rice to the markets in order to see higher profits.

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Sutiyoso, Director of Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency (BIN), said authorities will closely monitor those Indonesians that return home after having joined the militant Islamic State in Syria. It is estimated that more than 100 Indonesians have traveled back to the Archipelago from Syria after having fought alongside the militant organization. Meanwhile, Indonesian policy is investigating a video that has been circulating on social media. This video displays a local terrorist group threatening to attack Indonesia's State Palace and Jakarta Policy headquarters.

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Indonesia's electricity subsidies may exceed the IDR 38.39 trillion (approx. USD $2.8 billion) allocated in the 2016 State Budget as there are probably more customers entitled to electricity subsidy than previously estimated. Last month, the Indonesian government and House of Representatives (DPR) agreed on cutting electricity subsidies for 450 VA and 900 VA households, per 1 January 2016, by disconnecting those people that are currently enjoying cheap electricity rates while they are not classified as 'poor' or 'near-poor' and thus do not deserve the subsidized price.

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Statistics Indonesia (BPS) said the government's plan to cut electricity subsidies for 450 VA and 900 VA households (per 1 January 2016) is likely to lead to a higher inflation and poverty rate. Cutting the electricity subsidy bill is part of government efforts to reduce costly energy subsidies and redirect these funds to productive investments (for example infrastructure development or social welfare programs). Moreover, more than 20 million Indonesians are enjoying subsidized electricity, while they are not classified as (near) poor.

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Credit rating agency Standards & Poor's (S&P) says Indonesia (and Malaysia) need to increase efforts to build a good track record of timely and reasonable power tariffs adjustments in order to ensure decent returns for investors and recover their costs. Delays in energy price revisions, which are sometimes the result of political strategy, are the key risk that jeopardize the financial stability (and credit profile) of state-owned utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). S&P therefore advises the Indonesian government to enhance efforts to ensure a sound regulatory framework (i.e. a transparent tariff rate-setting mechanism).

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The population of Indonesia, which numbers over 255 million people in 2015 (unofficial data), grows at a worrying pace according to Surya Chandra Surapaty, Head of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN). Currently, Indonesia's average annual population growth rate stands at 1.49 percent. This means that each year the Indonesian population expands by 4.5 million people (nearly the size of Singapore's total population).

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Indonesia's poverty rate is expected to jump to between 11.13 and 11.37 percent of the total Indonesian population in 2013 due to inflationary pressures. Inflation may reach 9.2 percent at the year end. The new poverty forecast is significantly higher than the government's original target of 9.5 to 10.5 percent as set in the country's State Budget. The revised forecast was presented by Indonesia's Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas). Poverty basket inflation is expected to rise accordingly.

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It is official. As of Saturday 22 June 2013, after months of uncertainty and speculation, the price of Indonesia's subsidized fuel has finally been raised. Starting from 0.00 am (midnight) on Saturday, all Indonesians have to pay a higher price of gasoline and diesel. Gasoline has been raised by 44 percent to IDR 6,500 (USD $0.66) and diesel by 22 percent to IDR 5,500 (USD $0.56) per liter. The minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Jero Wacik, made the announcement on late Friday evening, after which the hike took effect immediately.

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Although Indonesia’s government stresses the need to relieve pressure on the state budget (by raising the price of subsidized fuel next month), it plans to allocate an additional IDR 16.1 trillion (USD $1.65 billion) to this year’s fuel subsidy budget. The additional allocation, which covers fuel, LPG and vegetable fuels, will raise government expenditure on fuel subsidies to IDR 209.9 trillion (USD $21.50 billion) from the IDR 193.8 trillion drafted in the original 2013 state budget (APBN 2013). Total energy subsidies will grow to IDR 309.9 trillion this year.

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The economy of Indonesia is booming with gross domestic product (GDP) surpassing six percent on an annual basis. And the country's strong economic fundamentals are confirmed by increasing international attention. But within the context of this economic growth it is important to take a look at whether economic growth is shared by all segments of Indonesian society. If, for example, only the higher classes of Indonesia would benefit from the economic boom, it could give rise to social issues in the future.

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In my previous column, I outlined the emergence of a new and promising class of Indonesian consumers that is most likely to bring a positive effect on the country's economic growth in the years ahead. I also pointed out that the level of prosperity of a population is an influential factor towards the state (and future) of democracy in a country: the wealthier a population becomes in terms of per capita GDP, the longer the life expectancy of its democracy will be.

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Various high government officials, including president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Finance minister Agus Martowardojo and National Development Planning minister Armida Alisjahbana stated that Indonesia's economy is estimated to grow between 6.3 and 6.8 percent in 2014. Its main economic pillars of support are thought to be (foreign and domestic) investments, domestic consumption, and government expenditure. Poverty is targeted to be reduced to ten percent of the population.

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