Over the past couple of months there have been many reports about Indonesia's weak consumer purchasing power. For example, the Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo) said it detected rather weak retail sales during this year's Idul Fitri period (the week-long holiday that marks the end of the Islamic fasting month). Whereas these sales rose 16.3 percent during last year's edition of Idul Fitri, they rose only by an estimated 5-6 percent this year.

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Indonesia's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, a state-controlled five-star airline that is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, requested to postpone the arrival of new airplanes in an attempt to improve the company's corporate earnings. Pahala M. Mansury, General Director of Garuda Indonesia, said the order (the number of airplanes) has not been revised, neither has the company's fleet plan (that runs to 2020) been changed. Only the timing of arrival of five planes has been altered.

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Nico Afinta, Head of the Jakarta Police's Narcotics Unit, said the number of drug users in Indonesia is estimated to have grown up to 5 million people. They are particularly centered in Jakarta (where it is estimated that up to 1 million people use illegal drugs) and Bali. Afinta added that the high number of drug users makes Indonesia an attractive market for drug smugglers or traffickers, particularly as law enforcement in Indonesia is generally weak. Therefore, tough action is required.

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Rumors are that China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is interested to expand its business in Indonesia, attracted by the nation's per capita GDP growth as well as rising smartphone and Internet penetration. Alibaba may invest in Indonesian online shopping facilitator Tokopedia. Tokopedia, established in 2009 by William Tanuwijaya and Leontinus Alpha Edison, is one of Indonesia's biggest online marketplaces.

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