Finance & economics | Running out of road

The false promise of Indonesia’s economy

Presidential candidates vow to deliver 7% growth. Voters have heard it before

A jetty at a nickel-mining site in North Konawe, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi
Nickel into dollarsPhotograph: Ulet Ifansasti/The New York Times/Redux/Eyevine

In politics, repetition is a crucial part of any campaign. But for Indonesian voters, who go to the polls to elect a new president on February 14th, one pledge is starting to sound a little too familiar. Candidates hoping to lead the world’s third-largest democracy have now, for the better part of two decades, been vowing to raise the country’s growth rate to 7%.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “False promise”

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