Crisis, debt blamed for RI's low HDI

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta

A United Nations official and a scholar have blamed the prolonged economic crisis and the vicious cycle of the nation's debt on the failure of Indonesia to increase its human development index.

Erna Witoelar, the United Nations special envoy for Millennium Development Goals for the Asia Pacific, conceded on Sunday the economic crisis still had an impact on the Indonesian economy, although macroeconomic indicators had shown signs of improvement over the last two years.

The prolonged economic crisis has reduced the government's capability to provide basic services for people.

"The prolonged economic crisis forced the government to shift its development priority, and it turned out that it wasn't directed toward improving the lives of the disadvantaged. Due to the lack of funds, the government no longer provides contraceptives for free, for example," she told The Jakarta Post.

She said that the crisis had left many people jobless and impoverished, a situation which stripped them of their ability to improve their lives.

Erna, former minister for resettlement and regional infrastructure under Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, also lashed out at the government, saying that its negligence toward improving the infrastructure of the country's poorer regions had also contributed to the slow growth of the Human Development Index (HDI).

"The government keeps on dispensing funds for the rich and developed provinces, while the resources-strapped regions are left to take care of themselves," she said.

According to data from 2002, this year, Indonesia's HDI is 0.692, up from 0.682 the year before.

However, the country seems to be struggling to improve its citizens' basic conditions.

This year's data show that the average life expectancy at birth is 66.2 years, down from 66.6 the year before. The same applies for the adult literacy rate, which falls from 87.9 percent of people aged 15 and above, to 87.3 percent.

The combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrollment ratio has dropped from 65 percent last year to 64 percent this year. However, in per capita GDP Indonesia has made a modest improvement of US$2,940 to US$3,230.

The index has relegated Indonesia into 111th positions from 177 countries surveyed, below Thailand, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. Last year, it ranked 112th on a list of 175 countries.

In its commitment to provide health services to its citizens, Indonesia lagged behind neighboring countries, such as the Philippines and Thailand. If the Philippines and Thailand spent 1.5 percent and 2.1 percent of its GDP respectively for health expenditure in 2001, Indonesia spent a paltry 0.6 percent.

For education, Indonesia also spends less compared to neighboring countries. Where Thailand spent 31 percent of its budget on education in 1999-2001, Indonesia disbursed only 9.8 percent.

Analyst Revrisond Baswir of the state-run, Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University (UGM) said that the country would unlikely manage to up its HDI given its huge debt.

"We are trapped in a vicious cycle of debt, which we have problems getting out of. One third of our state budget has been devoted to repaying a huge sum of interest and installments of foreign loans every year. This has limited the government's capacity to spend on basic services," he told the Post.