Advertisement
Coronavirus pandemic
This Week in AsiaOpinion
Richard Maude
Richard Maude

Opinion | Coronavirus: debt and poverty threaten a hydra-headed Covid crisis in Indonesia

  • Beyond the economy, Widodo’s greatest fear is a rupture in the social fabric of Indonesia like the one that occurred during the Asian financial crisis
  • Close partners of Indonesia like Japan and Australia should step in to help

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Workers move the coffin of a coronavirus victim at a cemetery in Jakarta. Photo: AFP
Richard Maude
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, facing pressure to act aggressively against rising coronavirus infections, has declared a national emergency and given virus hotspots like Jakarta the authority to implement tougher social distancing controls.

But he’s also made clear he wants the nation back to “normal” by the middle of the year, pinning his hopes on a significant increase of testing levels, contact tracing and isolation for those infected.

The government’s desire to get Southeast Asia’s largest economy working again is understandable. But the timing of the decision to ease social distancing measures looms as a critical test.

Easing Indonesia’s soft lock down too early will hand momentum back to the pandemic, especially in a country in which the true number of infections is almost certainly substantially higher than the official count. It has reported more than 12,000 infections and nearly 900 deaths. Indonesia’s economic pain could then extend into the second half of 2020 or even 2021.

At that point, Indonesia’s already severe Covid-19 crisis could become hydra-headed. In addition to a still unfolding pandemic and economic shutdown, Indonesia could face two further crises – a financial shock with foreign debt defaults and food insecurity and social unrest as a result of rising poverty.
Advertisement