Looking Back at 2018: A Year of Devastating & Fatal Disasters for Indonesia
While the economy of Indonesia can be labelled “healthy” in 2018 as the country’s slow process of accelerating economic growth continued amid very challenging external conditions (albeit it needs waiting for the Q4 GDP growth data to confirm this statement), not everything went rosy for Southeast Asia’s largest economy in 2018. In fact, for Indonesia, 2018 is characterized by a multitude of devastating and fatal disasters.
The list of major natural and man-made disasters is big in 2018. Several terrorist attacks in East Java in May 2018 (which gave rise to a new phenomenon called “the family suicide attack”), a series of earthquakes and tsunamis affecting Lombok, Central Sulawesi, Banten and South Lampung, the sinking of a ferry in Lake Toba, and the crash of a Lion Air plane. Together these incidents have killed about 3,500 people in Indonesia (the figure could even be higher as many people are still missing after the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in late September 2018).
The direct impact of these disasters is clear: fatalities and injuries (while family-members are left with the pain of losing their beloved ones), and in the case of damaged infrastructure and property it causes scarcity of food and drinks as well as clean water, electricity and medicines as supplies and distribution channels have been damaged (prompting an increase in inflation and public health issues). Meanwhile, assets (including shops and offices) of various small & medium-sized enterprises are swept away by waves, hence leading to a loss of income (and a rise in unemployment), and many private homeowners – who saw their homes being destroyed and who do not have property insurance - will have serious worries (and are largely dependent on the government and local or foreign aid to have a new roof above their head). Often, an area that is impacted by a natural disaster will show scars of the event for many years to come.
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The full article can be found in the December 2018 edition of our monthly research report. You can purchase this report by sending an email to info@indonesia-investments.com or a WhatsApp (WA) message to the following number: +62.(0).8788.410.6944
