Prabowo Inherits the Unfinished Business of Jokowinomics

Picture: East Asia Forum

In an article by East Asia Forum, Siwage Dharma Negara discusses how Prabowo’s administration is facing significant economic challenges, including declining household spending, weak export demand, mounting fiscal pressures and slow reform progress.

While energy security is high on the agenda, Prabowo’s ambitious goals of phasing out coal and fossil fuels within 15 years lack clear implementation plans despite international funding commitments. Initiatives like the Just Energy Transition Partnership’s US$21.6 billion pledge have not shown much progress in terms of new clean energy projects or the early retirement of coal-fired power plants. The high costs of the energy transition and limited infrastructure are not the only factors slowing things down, with a lack of political commitment to improving regulations and investment in the clean energy sector persisting.

As Indonesia enters 2025, it finds itself at a crossroads. The country must find the right policies to tackle its domestic structural challenges to achieve higher growth and position itself as a key player in the global economy. Indonesia’s entry into BRICS presents opportunities and risks for national development. Growing dependence on Chinese trade, investment and technology should be anticipated and addressed by reforming trade and industrial policies as well as institutional governance. With its current high approval rating, the Prabowo–Gibran government should have the necessary political capital to implement these critical reforms.