Jakarta, March 14 -- Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar, has said that the government is aiming to bring down the national extreme poverty rate to zero percent by 2026.

He held a meeting with other ministries and agencies in Jakarta on Friday to discuss efforts to accelerate the handling of poverty and extreme poverty.

"The meeting followed up on the President's instruction to reduce extreme poverty to zero percent by 2026," Iskandar said.

He added that the number of poor has currently reached 24.8 million, accounting for 8.7 percent of the total population of Indonesia.

While the extreme poverty rate is targeted to decline to zero percent by 2026, the government is aiming to reduce the poverty ra...