Entrepreneurs in Indonesia : how does the crisis impact your work

Hi Loic,

We are fortunate to be able to have a good overseas income without working here, also my wife continues with her own business and that is not really affected by the Coronavirus situation. So the crisis has not impacted us very much, but of course not being able to travel or even go out during this lockdown and meet with my expat friends is a bit of a bummer. Also our kids have not been out of the house for more than a month except to visit the local drive-thru's.

What I have heard though is that some Indonesian business people who are considered locally as being rich find that their businesses have had to close. They prefer to continue paying their staff as good and reliable trained staff are not always easy to find and also they feel a loyalty to them. Some of these so called "rich" people are struggling financially and trying to earn money in other ways, such as selling cakes or banana fritters or anything they can for perhaps only Rp300k to Rp500k a day.

Some others are also worried about how to pay their school fees and while many private and semi-private schools are offering discounts on school fees due to pressure from parents, for example 15% discount, others are still struggling to manage to pay that.

So for expats who have an overseas contract and are still able to work here I don't know if it impacts them financially all that much. For those retired expats, it all depends on how your income is earned and if you continue to work then you should be fine.

Our local government has suggested that those locals who are struggling financially could get some pretty meager financial assistance, but also recommends that if you won a house, car or even motorcycle, then you should consider selling them otherwise you will not be eligible for financial assistance. I think after some complaints they were going to review those suggestions since they are pretty impractical.

Those who would normally be considered as fairly rich may be struggling with mortgage payments, car loan payments and general bills for phone, television and internet monthly bills. For us, all our properties were bought cash and we have just three more car payments to make, so no worries.

The good news for us is that as of July, we will need to spend Rp23 million less per month than we are currently spending.

Also, currently we are on lockdown for the next two weeks but of course I expect that to be extended.