Yudhoyonomics: Throw away momentum, then make correction

Data on post-crisis Indonesia's economic growth shows how Yudhoyono's economic performance in comparison with his predecessors.

President Abdurrahman Wahid recorded sharp fluctuations. It is consistent with the political situation at that time when Indonesia was just starting her democratic transition. While Wahid was trying to build the foundations of Indonesia's democracy and civil supremacy, many parties, especially those who belong to the old regime, felt that the transformation would do them harm. And we all know the rest of the story, Wahid was toppled through a 'constitutional coup' in the MPR.

Megawati Soekarnoputri, who continued Wahid's term, showed a steady acceleration of economic growth. As can be seen in the graph, her period in the office demonstrated acceleration and consolidation of Indonesia's economy after the economic meltdown in 1997.

Yudhoyono, although he won the support of the masses, failed to continue the acceleration. Since he was installed in the office, the country's economic growth deteriorated and reached its peak in 2005 when he cut the fuel subsidy more than 100 per cent. After throwing away the momentum for growth, he subsequently made correction when the economic growth reached 6.5 percent, which is still below Megawati's top performance at 6.6 per cent.

PS: data taken from Faisal Basri's presentation. The powerpoint file can be downloaded from here (1.5 MB).

economy