Bogor, West Java, April 9 -- Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar stated that the government is striving to prevent Indonesia's middle class from slipping downward the class.

"We are working with all our effort to ensure that the middle class does not fall, even as they continue to face various pressures from the ongoing global economic challenges," Iskandar said while opening the National Working Meeting of the Open University Alumni Association here on Thursday.

He added that the number of vulnerable poor people is still very high and tends to increase.

"The number of vulnerable poor today is rising due to multiple factors, including the global economic crisis and various challenges we are currently...