Moving from a General Subsidiy into a Targeted One: Indonesian Experience in Fuel Subsidy and Social Protection Reform

This presentation was delivered during the "Asia Public Policy Forum 2013", which was held in Jakarta on 29 May 2013. The government’s strategy towards policy alleviation has changed from general economic development to more targeted policies. In addition, democracy and openness mean that the issue of poverty is no longer a restricted, academic discourse but a significant political issue. Following the Asian Financial Crisis, greater efforts were made towards developing targeted programmes and building social insurance. Government strategies focus around three clusters, aimed at comprehensively reducing Indonesia's poverty rate: 1) Cluster 1, which focus on households-based social assistance programmes; 2) Cluster 2, which emphasises community empowerment programmes; and 3) Cluster 3, which seeks to expand economic opportunities for low-income households.