Indonesian President Joko Widodo said after reelection in October that the country has "a huge potential to escape the middle-income trap." The COVID-19 pandemic is making that goal a herculean task. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters)

Pandemic stalls Indonesia's push to escape middle-income trap

Two decades of growth reversed in Southeast Asia's biggest economy

ERWIDA MAULIA and ISMI DAMAYANTI, Nikkei staff writers

December 15, 2020 06:22 JST

JAKARTA -- Things were looking good back in January for Suryanti, an employee at a small travel agent in Bogor, a city south of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. She had just paid off her motorcycle loan and was planning a vacation with her parents with a bonus she expected to receive from her employer.