The Muslim fasting month is traditionally a time of plenty in Indonesia: shoppers throng Jakarta’s markets snapping up gifts to exchange at extravagant fast-breaking celebrations, Reuters reported. But this year, Ramadan – which runs from mid-June will be a more abstemious affair because widespread job losses, a spike in inflation and lower earnings from commodities that Indonesia sells to the world have crimped consumers’ purchasing power. The unseasonable thriftiness of Indonesia’s 250 million inhabitants who between them spend $500 billion a year on goods and services, about the same as Thais, Malaysians and Singaporeans combined is another obstacle in the way of President Joko Widodo’s promise to lift economic growth to 7 percent.
