As the Indonesian government continues to battle the Covid-19 health crisis, it is also facing another battle front with the economy now most likely to face a recession. Across all industries and sectors, the outlook is gloomy at best with business leaders grappling to find solutions to keep their companies afloat.

The pessimistic outlook is reflected in the Indonesia Economic Forum survey on business confidence and possible economic outlook for the rest of the year; the Business Leaders Confidence Index. We asked 10 business leaders about their views on business activities over the next 3 months (April –June). The survey measured business confidence on a scale of 1 to 100, in which 1 to 25 indicates worry; 26 to 50 indicates concern; 51 to 75 indicates pessimism; 76 to 100 indicates optimistic.

Across all industries and sectors from retail, property, F&B, logistic services, textile, telco, electronics and pharmacy, the outlook was grim. The business leaders scored and average of 62, indicating that they were pessimistic about their business over the next three months.