• Falling Production & Growing Imports: Revitalizing the Indonesian Tea Sector

    The tea industry of Indonesia has been in decline in the last decade. During this decade, the size of Indonesia's tea plantations fell from 150,000 hectares (ha) to 120,000 ha. The country's tea production and tea export slowed, while tea import grew. The lucrative business prospects of palm oil is partly responsible to have caused Indonesia's tea output to stagnate as some tea plantations have been transformed into palm oil plantations. To reverse this situation, the Indonesian government intends to revitalize the country's tea sector.

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  • Indonesian Rupiah Exchange Rate Today: Extending Depreciating Trend

    On Tuesday (26/11), Bank Indonesia's mid rate depreciated 0.37 percent to IDR 11,765 per US dollar, which is the lowest level the currency has touched since March 2009. Main reason for today's decline is the government's US dollar-denominated bond auction yesterday (25/11) that fell USD $450 million short of its target. The bond issuance was negatively impacted by investors' concern about the looming scaling back of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program as US economic data improve.

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  • Indonesian Government Auctions First Ever Euro-Denominated Bonds in 2014

    The Indonesian government will issue Euro-denominated bonds in 2014. This will be the first time in Indonesian history that the government issues bonds in the Euro currency. Aim of the issuance, which will have a maturity date ranging from 5 to 10 years, is government loan refinancing. Scenaider CH Siahaan, Director for Strategy and Debt Portfolio at the Finance Ministry's Directorate General of Debt Management, said that the government will hold a total of 44 bond auctions in 2014.

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  • New Government Policy Increases Indonesia's Biodiesel Consumption

    Indonesia's biodiesel consumption has risen considerably during the last three months after the Indonesian government raised the mandatory amount of palm oil (fatty acid methyl ester) blended in biodiesel from 7.5 percent to 10 percent. For power plants that use biodiesel the amount has been increased to 20 percent. Biodiesel consumption in Southeast Asia's largest economy jumped from 57,871 kiloliters in August 2013 to 101,857 kiloliters in September and to 116,281 kiloliters in October.

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