• Lower Fuel Prices Would Improve Indonesia's Purchasing Power

    Indonesia's economic growth in the first quarter of 2016 could reach 5 percent (or more) year-on-year provided that the government manages to optimize spending on infrastructure projects and improve people's purchasing power. Large drops in domestic car and motorcycle sales so far this year show that Indonesia's purchasing power remains bleak. Other indicators - such as cement and retail sales - are also not too strong. Firmanzah, economist at the Paramadina University, said the 0.09 percent (m/m) deflation that occurred in February could be a sign of further weakening purchasing power.

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  • Foreign Exchange Reserves Indonesia Climb in February 2016

    The foreign exchange reserves of Indonesia rose USD $2.4 billion to USD $104.5 billion in February 2016 according to a statement of Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia). The lender of last resort attributed this forex growth to foreign exchange receipts from the oil & gas sector, foreign debt withdrawals, and the sale of foreign-denominated bonds (SBBI). These receipts were more than enough to cover for the use of foreign exchange for public foreign debt payments.

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  • Not Enough Coal Reserves to Supply Indonesia's 35,000 MW Power Program?

    The Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI) advises the central government to recalculate the amount of coal required for Indonesia's 35,000 MW power plant program. According to APBI, Indonesia does not have enough coal reserves to serve as power source for this ambitious program. The program, launched by President Joko Widodo in 2015, aims to add a total of 35,000 MW to the nation's power capacity by 2019 (about 20,000 MW being coal-fired plants). PriceWaterhouseCoopers states that Indonesia may have depleted its coal reserves by the year 2033.

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  • Indonesia Records Biggest-Ever Islamic Bonds (Retail Sukri) Sale

    As predicted, demand for Indonesia's sharia-compliant government retail bonds (Sukuk Negara Ritel, abbreviated Sukri) remains strong and is growing. In fact, Indonesia's Finance Ministry released a statement on Monday (07/03) that said Southeast Asia's largest economy recorded its biggest ever sale of Sukri bonds. Between 19 February and 4 March 2016 Indonesia offered the three year SR-008 Islamic bond series (carrying a fixed coupon of 8.3 percent per year), raising IDR 31.5 trillion (approx. USD $2.4 billion).

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