Pandemic wipes out years of progress on Asian poverty, from Indonesia to the Philippines and Thailand
- Millions of Indonesians have been left struggling by the pandemic, with the country on track to record one of its highest poverty rates in over a decade
- And it’s not the only Southeast Asian nation suffering the pandemic’s adverse economic effects – poverty is on the increase across the region
She is now the sole breadwinner, and must provide for both herself, her husband and their two children on a single garment factory worker’s wage – which has forced some difficult choices.
“We are really struggling to get by, we used to have two incomes … not that much but enough to fulfil our daily needs,” Lasmi said. “Our finances have been badly hit by the pandemic, we’ve had to adjust everything, even what we eat … like substituting chicken with egg.”
The 4.2 million rupiah (US$298) Lasmi earns working at the factory each month is not enough to cover the family’s expenses, and a cash handout of 2.4 million rupiah from the government went straight to buying baby milk formula, nappies and other essentials for her one-year-old daughter, she said.
So she borrowed 10 million rupiah from a bank and another four million from a loan shark, who charges so much interest that Lasmi fears she might never pay the money back.
“It’s like digging a hole to fill a hole. It’s hard to pay them back because our expenses are bigger than our income,” the 36 year-old said. “I can afford not to eat, but my kids cannot.”