Economy

Indonesia is the only G20 economy in South-east Asia and is home to the world’s fourth-largest population. While it possesses a variety of natural resources, taking full advantage of this endowment is challenging due to constraints such as an archipelagic geography, an infrastructure deficit and workforce inefficiencies. Reforms aimed at addressing some of these shortcomings are on the table, though they face growing resistance, especially amid the Covid-19 crisis. Real GDP growth was 5.03% in 2019. Prior to the outbreak of Covid-19, an uptick in GDP was expected in 2020. At a policy meeting in February, Perry Warjiyo, governor of Bank Indonesia, predicted Covid-19 would have a V-shaped effect on economic growth in 2020, with a baseline growth rate of 5.1% that could rise to 5.2% with fiscal policy support. However, as the pandemic quickly worsened and numerous countries enacted strict lockdown measures, this was revised down to 2.3% in April. This chapter contains interviews with Sri Mulyani, Minister of Finance; Perry Warjiyo, Governor, Bank Indonesia; and Wimboh Santoso, Chairman, Financial Services Authority.