Shefali Rekhi – Indonesia's economy might be improving, but this has not translated into a "feel good" factor among the people on the ground.
The result: a disconnect between the rosy macroeconomic indicators and what ordinary folks feel about the country's economic growth, said Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the front runner in the race for the Indonesian presidency on July 5.
"There is something artificial about the prosperity we are seeing now," the former general and Cabinet minister noted, pointing out that much of the nascent recovery is because of increased consumer spending. There is also a "disconnect", he said.
"The macro indicators are not mirrored in the microeconomic picture. People are complaining that the costs of basic education have risen sharply. So have the costs of telephone calls, electricity, construction materials. Clearly, the big numbers are not reflected down to the small people."
Mr Bambang was delivering a talk on his vision for shaping his country's future as part of a series of lectures on Indonesia's presidential election, organised by the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies and The Straits Times.
Asked by several members of the audience at the Shangri-La Hotel what he planned to do to promote business, draw investors and boost growth in the country, he said Indonesia needed to push for a growth rate of 7 per cent a year, up from its present growth rate of 4.5 per cent, to improve the welfare of its people.
The four key planks he outlined in his speech for economic recovery were: infrastructure, human resource development, easier availability of credit and legal reforms.
With a view to attracting foreign investors, he is also promising to make state-owned enterprises efficient, make the tender processes more transparent, cut red tape and significantly improve labour laws. Steps would also be taken to boost security and maintain stability in the country.
Mr Bambang has his task cut out for him. Elections have stymied the rate of recovery of an economy that was hit by the 1997 financial crisis. Foreign investors have been shying away and export growth rates have been slackening, though regional economies have been doing far better.
To change that, Mr Bambang wants to pump more money into public works, which could include improving utilities and housing, improving rural-urban linkages as well as helping key areas in the rural zones to ensure better agricultural harvest.
"Infrastructure development is key," he said. "Economic growth simply cannot take off if everyone spends too much of their time stuck in traffic." From his speech, it was not quite clear how his government would fund these plans.
But Mr Bambang's plan to push for growth with a human face showed up in his commitment to reform education and health care services and to make sure the gains are shared by many instead of a few.
His government will improve the national curriculum, increase the ratio of teachers to students and spend more on libraries, he said. Local governments will be encouraged to improve training facilities for workers and there will be more money spent on building clinics and subsidising some medical facilities.
There will also be a concerted effort to improve civic education to foster a spirit of unity in the country. Small and medium enterprises – the avenues for more jobs – will get softer credit or cheaper loans.
"I say this because I am constantly haunted by the faces at campaign rallies," Mr Bambang said. "It is for them that I aim to make economic recovery my No. 1 priority in my first 100 days in office."