Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro announced on Tuesday (05/04) that Indonesia's tax revenue reached IDR 194 trillion (approx. USD $14.7 billion) in the first quarter of 2016, down 2.1 percent from tax revenue in the same period one year earlier. Brodjonegoro blamed this poor result on lower income from value-added taxes (VATs) due to tax restitution and people's low consumption amid sluggish economic growth. Meanwhile, he informed that Indonesia plans to cut the personal income tax, a move aimed at boosting tax compliance.

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How did Indonesia's richest billionaires do during Indonesia's slowing economic growth in 2015 when gross domestic product (GDP) hit the five-year low of 4.79 percent (y/y)? Comparing the wealth of the top ten of richest Indonesians in April 2016 and December 2014 there were only three Indonesian billionaires that saw their net worth rising. Meanwhile, this article also takes a quick look into which Indonesian tycoons or well-known businessmen were listed in the Panama Papers, one of history's largest document leaks.

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Indonesia's public debt - as a percentage of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) - currently stands at 27 percent, or roughly IDR 3,200 trillion (approx. USD $241 billion). This debt is manageable and actually quite low compared to other key emerging economies or advanced economies. For example, Malaysia's and Brazil's public debt-to-GDP ratios reached 56 percent and 70 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the ratios of the USA and Japan stand at 105 percent and 246 percent, respectively. However, the level of debt is not that important. The important question is how is this debt used?

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The government of Indonesia plans to unveil its 12th economic stimulus package next week. This 12th package will deal with the simplification of permits for the country's small and medium-sized enterprises. Indonesia's Chief Economics Minister Darmin Nasution said regional governments are still applying regulations designed by the central authorities although policy-making as well as the execution of these policies have been transferred to the regional authorities (in line with the nation's switch to regional autonomy, or decentralization of governance, in the Reformation era).

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