Hard Times

After four years at the branch office of Orix Indonesia Finance in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Hana Farida has begun to feel something is amiss. Whereas she used to process were lease applications, now it seems all she receives are 'accounts-receivable' forms. "The flow of work is still the same, but the type of work is far different," Hana said two weeks ago.

In April 2011, Hana was there for the coal and crude palm oil export boom, when dozens of credit applications for the purchase of heavy equipment landed on her desk each week. In early 2014, as mining and plantation commodity prices began to fall, however, things began to change.

June 16, 2015