Government gestures to calm deadly protests in Indonesia have done little to address the economic inequality and hardship fuelling the unrest, leaving deep resentment to linger and flare up again, experts say.

The country's worst violence in decades left at least six people dead and 20 missing, with rallies over lavish perks for lawmakers descending into angry riots against police after officers were filmed running over a young delivery driver.

Southeast Asia's biggest economy recorded a surge in growth in the second quarter of the year on the back of manufacturing and export demand, which President Prabowo Subianto hailed, but everyday Indonesians are not seeing the data reflected in their wallets.

Instead they view a corrupt political class enriching itself and failing to listen to the public, while inequality grows between the rich and the poor, experts said.

"This is caused by economic issues. Some economic policies left the public quite annoyed or even angry," said Nailul Huda, economist at the Center of Economics and Law Studies (CELIOS).

"If economic growth is true, it will be felt by the lower-class society. Terminations are........

© International Business Times