Earlier this week, the central banks of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia), Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), Thailand (Bank of Thailand) jointly announced the launch of the local currency settlement framework. This framework aims at boosting the use of local currencies in transactions (specifically related to trade and investment) conducted between Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in an effort to reduce these countries' dependence on the US dollar.

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In line with expectations, the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday (16/11). The seven-day reverse repurchase rate (BI 7-day Reverse Repo Rate) was kept at 4.25 percent for a second straight month. Meanwhile, the deposit facility and lending facility rates were kept at 3.50 percent and 5.00 percent respectively.

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Foreign exchange earnings are important assets for a national economy. Therefore, many nations have recently been taking a much more protectionist approach vis-à-vis trade in an effort to strengthen their trade positions, generate trade surpluses, hence see the inflow of more foreign exchange earnings. Foreign exchange assets support a stable local currency as well as economy.

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State-controlled telecommunication and network provider Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) managed to post a 12.5 percent year-on-year (y/y) rise in net sales to IDR 97.0 trillion (approx. USD $7.2 billion) in the January-September 2017 period. Meanwhile, the company's net profit rose 21.7 percent (y/y) to IDR 17.9 trillion (approx. USD $1.3 billion) over the same period.

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