Cak Imin Says Inequality Is Still Wide: 1 Percent Of People Control Almost 50 Percent Of Indonesia's Wealth

Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment (Menko PM) Muhaimin Iskandar (Cak Imin). (Photo: ANTARA)

Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment (Menko PM) Muhaimin Iskandar (Cak Imin) emphasized that economic inequality in Indonesia is still at an alarming level. This is because the distribution of national wealth is still controlled by small groups.

"We also see that the ratio continues to decline at this time at 0.38. But at the same time we also found that 1 percent of the richest people in the country control almost 50 percent of our total national wealth," said Cak Imin at the 2026 National Economic Projection Seminar virtually, Thursday, November 20.

Cak Imin, as he is familiarly called, said that the improvement in macro indicators does not automatically describe the condition of the community in the field. This is because the micro economy is in a stagnant condition.

He said, this condition shows that although the Indonesian economy grew 5.04 percent, it was not felt by all levels of society.

'Makro is growing, micro-containing, pdb is increasing but the income of economically fragile families is developing but access is not always evenly distributed. This is what I call structural congestion," he said.

"The economy doesn't drip from top to bottom it stays in the pockets of some people, while others stay alive with empty pockets," he continued.

Cak Imin juga menyoroti pendekatan penanggulangan kemiskinan yang selama ini dijalankan.

Kata dia, negara hadir hanya untuk memberikan perlindungan dasar tanpa menggerakkan pemberdayaan jangka panjang.

“Negara hanya bertindak sebagai penyedia perlindungan sosial dasar tetapi tidak menuntun pemberdayaan. Atas dasar itulah Presiden Prabowo Subianto berulang kali menegaskan kita perlu memperbaiki desain ekonomi nasional menjadi pertumbuhan dari desa dan dari bawah,” ujarnya.

Cak Imin also highlighted the poverty reduction approach that had been carried out so far.

He said, the state was only present to provide basic protection without mobilizing long-term empowerment.

"The state only acts as a basic social protection provider but does not guide empowerment. On that basis, President Prabowo Subianto repeatedly emphasized that we need to improve the national economic design into growth from the village and from below," he said.