Mustaqim Adamrah ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 08/14/2009 2:10 PM  |  National

The government has deemed its efforts made in alleviating poverty and unemployment to have been a success.

"We are glad the poverty rate has declined from 16.7 percent in 2004 to 14.1 percent in March 2009, and that the unemployment rate has gone down from 9.9 percent in 2004 to 8.1 percent in February 2009," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Friday in his speech during a plenary session at the House of Representatives.
 
Also attending the session were House Speaker Agung Laksono, House Members and other government official.
 
In a speech earlier in the day, Agung scoffed at the government's target to cut unemployment by 3 million in 2010, calling it "unrealistic.”