New Hopes and Challenges for Indonesia

The upgrade of Indonesia\'s status to that of an upper-middle income country is not enough. More reforms are needed to spur economic growth and reduce inequality.

KOMPAS/LASTI KURNIA

A man is silhouetted against a monitor showing the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) on Monday (2/3/2020) at the Jakarta Stock Exchange in South Jakarta. The JCI fell to 5,361 at the close of trade on Monday (2/3), weakening 1.68 percent from last week’s close following the government’s announcement of the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in the country.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS –The World Bank has upgraded Indonesia’s status to that of an upper-middle income country from its previous status as a lower-middle income nation. The upgrade gives Indonesia not only new hope but also new challenges in reviving its economy.

The government has no choice but to accelerate reform in all fields. As reported by the WB on its website, Indonesia has been included in the group of upper- middle income countries as of July 1, 2020. The classification is based on gross national income (GNI) per capita in 2019.