The Nation in Peril: Indonesia's President Received Meagre Pay and Lived Frugally

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The unstable political and economic situation once severely limited the income of Indonesia’s President. This was directly experienced by Indonesia’s first President, Soekarno, in the early days of independence.

Shortly after the proclamation, the government set the president’s salary at f.1,000 per month. This amount was stipulated in Government Decree No. 1/O.P, announced in November 1945. The figure was temporary, adjusted to the precarious state of the nation at the time. However, for the presidential family, the amount was extremely meagre.

The First Lady, Fatmawati, recounted in her memoir titled Fatmawati: Small Notes with Bung Karno (2017) that every month she received an envelope containing Bung Karno’s salary, which was a paltry sum.

That money had to be stretched to cover the family’s food needs and other household expenses. This was because there was only one source of income.

“I myself did not earn money to help meet our needs,” Fatmawati revealed.

The severely limited conditions were also acknowledged directly by Soekarno. In his autobiography Bung Karno: Voice of the Indonesian People (1965), he admitted to often struggling to meet his family’s needs.

“And is there any other head of state who is as impoverished as I am and often has to borrow from his aides? My salary is US$200 a month and it is not enough to meet my family’s needs,” he recalled.

Soekarno’s candid account illustrates the harsh economic life even at the level of the head of state in the early days of the republic. The cause was inseparable from Indonesia’s situation, which had just been born on 17 August 1945.

At that time, the nation stood without a solid economic foundation. Hyperinflation, damaged infrastructure and distribution routes, and an unorganised administrative system all contributed to thin state coffers, while the war to defend independence from the Dutch demanded huge costs.

The situation worsened after the Dutch implemented an economic blockade that hindered exports and imports, making state revenues even tighter. As a result, the government had to find various ways to survive. From pooling resources, smuggling commodities, to selling various assets that could still generate funds.

Amid the nation’s near-breathless condition, Soekarno’s salary was also affected. The proclaimer even had to experience a simple life, far from the luxurious image of a head of state.