Indonesia’s 5.6% growth is a fiscal ‘sugar rush’, not a structural boom

ON PAPER, Indonesia’s first-quarter 2026 gross domestic product growth of 5.61 per cent is the envy of the region.

For investors banking on South-east Asia’s largest economy, the headline figure signals a booming resurgence, marking the fastest expansion in recent years.

However, a closer look under the hood reveals a more precarious reality: This is an expansion built heavily on state-funded stimulus rather than structural market strength.