Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati on January 6 stated that this country experienced a significant d♊ecline in poverty rate in 2024.

The minister noted that the poverty rate dropped to 9.03% in 2024 from the previous 9.36% in 2023. This was followed by a decrease in the extreme poverty rate from 1.12% to 0.83% last year. In addition, inequality, as measured by the Gini ratio, also improved from 0.388 in 2023 to 0.379 in 2024. There was a decline in poverty, Gini ratio, and unemployment rate as well, she said, attributing the result to mutual work and the state budget, which worked extremely hard to protect the community and the economy. Furthermore, Indrawati remarked that the labour market showed positive developments, with a decrease in the unemployment rate from 5.32% in 2023 to 4.91% in 2024. In 2024, the minister noted, 4.78 million new jobs were created, including a notable rise in formal employment by 3.44 million, bringing the total number of formal workers to 56.2 million. Also on January 6, Indonesia’s National Nutrition Agency officially launched the Free Nutritious Meal Programme (MBG). Head of the agency's Legal and Public Relations Bureau Lalu Muhammad Iwan Mahardan confirmed that school students will be the first priority of the free meals programme. Indonesia aims to establish 937 MBG kitchens by the end of January 2025 and increase this number to 5,000 by the end of 2025, serving approximately 20 million beneficiaries. The programme targets school students, toddlers, pregnant women, and nursing mothers. On its first day of implementation, 190 nutrition service units (SPPG) became operational across 26 provinces. The free lunch programme is a flagship initiative of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's campaign and is scheduled for full nationwide implementation starting in 2025. It is expected to provide free meals for 82 million students nationwide, aiming to reduce malnutrition and stunting among children while boosting farmers' incomes./.