The holy Islamic fasting month (Ramadan) is set to start in early June. One month later Indonesia will celebrate Idul Fitri (Lebaran), the celebration that marks the end of the Ramadan month. During Idul Fitri millions of Indonesians will travel back to their places of origin to spend some time with their families, a tradition called mudik. Although the Ramadan is a month characterized by self-control, this month and the subsequent Idul Fitri celebrations always cause rising consumption of food products as well as rising consumer spending on clothes, shoes, bags, and other articles.

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The Indonesian Rubber Board says Indonesia's rubber production is expected to reach 3.16 million tons in 2016, up 1.61 percent (y/y) from last year's realization. The board said rising output comes on the back of an increase in the size of Indonesia's rubber plantations and an increase in productivity at the existing plantations. Indonesia is the world's second-largest rubber producer (after Thailand) and therefore its output has a major impact on global rubber prices (about 85 percent of Indonesia's rubber production is exported abroad).

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The Indonesian government released the 12th economic policy package on Thursday (28/04). This latest edition focuses on enhancing the ease of doing business for the small and mid-sized companies in Indonesia in a bid to attract more investment, hence giving a boost to economic growth. In the 12th package the government announces it has cut a number of procedures and permits, as well as costs, required for the development of a business. Indonesia's Chief Economics Minister Darmin Nasution unveiled the package on Thursday in Jakarta's Presidential Palace.

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Global credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service released a report that includes a warning about the current state of Indonesia's corporate debt. Although Moody's is concerned about the relatively high reliance of Indonesian companies on foreign sources for their debt, the credit rating agency kept Indonesia's sovereign rating at Baa3 with a stable outlook. Moody's noted that Indonesia's government and corporate debt stands at 26.8 percent and 23.7 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP), respectively.

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