Indonesia Candidates’ Pledges Confront Budget Constraints

Indonesia’s two presidential candidates offered differing paths to generating growth and government revenue, as their pledges to improve incomes, health care and education confront the reality of budget constraints.

Joko Widodo, the Jakarta governor who’s leading polls ahead of the July 9 election, plans to improve regulations to attract investment that can help Southeast Asia’s largest economy grow more than 7 percent, he said in a debate last night against his opponent, Prabowo Subianto. Ex-army general Prabowo wants to minimize corruption within five years to recover funds.