Two-year-old China-funded bullet train is fast becoming a fiscal time bomb for Indonesia

[JAKARTA] Indonesia’s multibillion-dollar high-speed rail project Whoosh, once celebrated as a symbol of deepening economic ties with China, is mired in debt – turning into a financial time bomb and a big headache for President Prabowo Subianto’s administration.

The project has racked up losses of 4.2 trillion rupiah (S$325.8 million) last year and another 1.24 trillion rupiah in the first half of 2025.

Weak passenger demand and ballooning debt have cast a long shadow over the rail project, raising fears of a growing strain on state coffers and its network of state-owned enterprises.