Asian stocks are again in deep red territory on Thursday (14/01), led by Chinese shares (which are on track to enter a bear market) as well as Japanese shares. It means that the rebound that had occurred earlier this week - caused by positive export data from China - was short-lived. The continued slide of oil prices (below USD $30 per barrel) and turmoil in China cause money to flow away from equity and fragile emerging market currencies.

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On Wednesday (13/01) Indonesia's central bank is set to start its monthly policy meeting. A novelty this year is that the monthly policy meetings of Bank Indonesia will take two days instead of one. Another interesting novelty is that Bank Indonesia invited Indonesia's Chief Economics Minister Darmin Nasution to attend the central bank's first policy meeting of 2016. Analyst opinions about whether Bank Indonesia has room to cut its relatively tight monetary policy are mixed.

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Penjualan secara besar-besaran terus berlangsung di Asia pada Senin (11/01). Indeks-indeks saham di Asia - yang dipimpin oleh Shanghai Composite Index Republik Rakyat Tingkok (RRT) - jatuh parah. Inflasi RRT yang teredam pada bulan Desember, Shanghai Composite Index yang terjun 5,33% hari ini, turunnya harga minyak, dan jatuhnya saham di Wall Street akhir pekan lalu (saham Amerika Serikat mengalami minggu terburuknya dalam empat tahun terakhir), membuat investor mencari aset yang aman (safe haven) seperti emas, yen Jepang dan dollar AS. Sementara itu, Indeks Harga Saham Gabungan (IHSG) Indonesia turun 1,78% menjadi 4.465,48 poin.

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Bank sentral Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) mengumumkan bahwa cadangan devisa negara ini telah meningkat tajam pada bulan Desember 2015. Pada akhir bulan terakhir tahun 2015 aset devisa tercatat sebesar 105,9 dollar Amerika Serikat (AS), naik dari 100,2 miliar dollar AS di bulan sebelumnya. Ini adalah hasil yang luar biasa karena ekonomi global dan domestik masih terganggu oleh ketidakpastian dan arus modal yang volatil (pada bulan Desember Federal Reserve akhirnya menaikkan Fed Fund Rate utamanya sebesar 25 poin basis).

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Saham dan mata uang di seluruh Asia berada di bawah tekanan berat pada hari Kamis (07/01) setelah bank sentral Republik Rakyat Tiongkok (RRT) menetapkan kurs yuan 0,51% lebih rendah (di 6.564,6 per dollar Amerika Serikat). Akibatnya, saham RRT anjlok lebih dari 7% (memicu mekanisme circuit-breaking baru - untuk hari kedua di minggu ini - 30 menit setelah perdagangan dibuka hari ini). Saham Asia juga lemah dikarenakan kerugian besar di Eropa dan di Wall Street semalam. Pasar bereaksi terhadap harga minyak yang turun ke level terendah dalam lebih dari tujuh tahun terakhir menjadi 33,97 dollar Amerika Serikat (AS) per barel.

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Meskipun kebanyakan pasar saham di Asia masih di wilayah merah, melanjutkan penurunan pada hari Senin, saham Indonesia dan rupiah berhasil melambung pada Selasa (5/1). Indeks Harga Saham Gabungan (IHSG) naik 0,70% menjadi 4.557,82 poin. Sementara itu, rupiah Indonesia naik 0,37% menjadi Rp 13.892 per dollar Amerika Serikat (Bloomberg Dollar Index). Apa yang terjadi pada perdagangan hari ini dan mengapa ada perbedaan antara aset Indonesia dan tren Asian secara umum?

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Berlawan dengan harapan, saham Indonesia dan rupiah memiliki awal yang lemah di tahun yang baru. Pada hari Senin (4/1) Indeks Harga Saham Gabungan (IHSG) turun 1,46% menjadi 4.525,92 poin, sementara rupiah terdepresiasi 0,82% menjadi Rp 13.943 per dollar Amerika Serikat (Bloomberg Dollar Index). Kinerja saham Indonesia ini sejalan dengan kinerja saham di seluruh dunia. Perdagangan saham Republik Rakyat Tiongkok (RRT) bahkan dihentikan dua kali karena indeksnya merosot. Apa yang terjadi hari ini?

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Kementerian Keuangan Indonesia mengeluarkan pernyataan pada hari Minggu (3/1) yang menyatakan bahwa Indonesia gagal memenuhi sebagian besar target ekonomi yang ditetapkan dalam Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Negara Perubahan (APBN-P) 2015. Alasan utama dari lemahnya kinerja adalah harga komoditi yang rendah, pertumbuhan ekonomi global yang lesu, perlambatan ekonomi Republik Rakyat Tiongkok (RRT), dan arus keluar modal yang dipicu oleh pengetatan kebijakan moneter Federal Reserve Amerika Serikat (AS). Hanya realisasi inflasi dan hasil treasury yield yang sejalan dengan target pemerintah.

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Meskipun tantangan tetap ada, Indeks Harga Saham Gabungan (IHSG) diperkirakan naik pada tahun 2016, melebihi level 5.000 poin. Tahun lalu IHSG turun 12,13% menjadi ditutup pada 4.593,01 poin. Khususnya untuk sektor infrastruktur, perbankan, konsumsi, semen, properti dan konstruksi di Indonesia diprediksi akan memiliki kinerja yang baik tahun ini karena percepatan pertumbuhan ekonomi domestik yang didukung oleh pengeluaran pemerintah dan paket stimulus ekonomi baru-baru ini.

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Hari perdagangan terakhir tahun 2015 di Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI) telah berlalu dan sekarang saatnya untuk melihat kembali kinerja Indeks Harga Saham Gabungan (IHSG) dan rupiah selama tahun 2015. Tahun 2015 merupakan tahun yang hektik, ditandai dengan volatilitas tinggi karena ketidakpastian tentang waktu kenaikan tingkat suku bunga AS (yang akhirnya diputuskan oleh Federal Reserve pada bulan Desember 2015) dan perlambatan ekonomi Republik Rakyat Tiongkok (RRT).

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ICRA Indonesia, an independent credit rating agency and subsidiary of ICRA Ltd. (associate of Moody's Investors Service), publishes a monthly newsletter which provides an update on the financial and economic developments in Indonesia of the last month. In the April 2014 edition, a number of important topics that are monitored include Indonesia's inflation rate, the trade balance, the BI rate, the IDR rupiah exchange rate, and gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Below is an excerpt of the newsletter:

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While most emerging Asian currencies fell, the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate appreciated 0.08 percent to IDR 11,523 per US dollar based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index on Monday (12/05). The depreciating Chinese yuan, after its central bank set the midrate at its lowest level in eight months, put pressure on other Asian currencies. Today, Indonesia's Finance Ministry sold IDR 10 trillion rupiah (USD $867 million) of bonds, higher than the indicative target of IDR 8 trillion rupiah. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s two-year bonds gained.

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The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) decided at today’s Bank Indonesia Board of Governors’ Meeting, convened on 8 May 2014, to maintain the country's benchmark interest rate (BI rate) at 7.50 percent, with the Lending Facility rate and Deposit Facility rate held at 7.50 percent and 5.75 percent respectively. This policy is consistent with efforts to steer the rate of inflation towards its target corridor of 4.5±1 percent in 2014 and 4.0±1 percent in 2015, as well as to reduce the current account deficit to a more sustainable level.

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Completely opposite to our expectations, the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (known as the Jakarta Composite Index or IHSG) managed to climb 0.57 percent to 4,862.02 points on Wednesday (07/05). The gain was unexpected as there were no clear factors that could provide positive market sentiments. Moreover, today's Asian stock indices were mostly down. Coincidence or not, tomorrow Bank Indonesia will announce whether its benchmark interest rate (BI rate) - currently set at 7.50 percent - will be changed or maintained.

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Indonesian Finance Minister Chatib Basri said that the country's economic growth in 2015 is targeted in the range of 5.5 to 6.3 percent. Amid further Federal Reserve tapering and possible interest rate hikes in the world's largest economy, chances of capital outflows from emerging markets (including Indonesia) are becoming larger. Basri said that these global conditions impact on GDP growth, the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate and inflation. Therefore, 2015 is a transition year, reflected by tighter economic projections and state spending.

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At the end of Friday’s trading day (02/05), the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate appreciated 0.32 percent to IDR 11,525 per US dollar based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index. The rupiah performed better than most of its regional emerging peers as inflation and trade data, which were released today by Statistics Indonesia, provided positive market sentiments. Indonesian inflation eased to 7.25 percent (year-on-year) in April 2014, from 7.32 percent a month earlier. Meanwhile, the country posted a trade surplus of USD $673 million in March 2014.

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Indonesia’s HSBC Markit Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) showed a reading of 51.1 in April 2014, significantly up from 50.1 in the previous month, meaning that manufacturing activity in Indonesia has grown (a reading above 50.0 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50.0 indicates contraction). In fact, amid improved economic conditions as well as strong demand, manufacturing activity in Southeast Asia’s largest economy expanded at the fastest pace in 11 months.

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On the first trading day of the week (Monday 28 April 2014), the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate depreciated 0.19 percent to IDR 11,587 per US dollar based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index. Several factors - both internal and external - influenced the rupiah as well as Indonesian stocks in a negative way. The benchmark stock index of Indonesia (known as the Jakarta Composite Index or IHSG) declined a whopping 1.61 percent to 4,818.76 points, in line with the regional trend in Asia today.

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The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate ended the week with a 0.32 percent gain to IDR 11,565 per US dollar on Friday (25/04) based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index. Despite still high local demand for US dollars ahead of the month-end (for reasons of profit repatriation, imports and debt repayments), the rupiah managed to appreciate as (foreign and domestic) investments in Indonesia were reported to have reached a new record at IDR 106.6 trillion (USD $9.4 billion) in the first quarter of 2014.

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Due to a lack of positive domestic and external sentiments, the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate has depreciated to a six-week low against the US dollar. Based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index, Indonesia's currency declined 0.66 percent to IDR 11,521 per US dollar by 16:22 local Jakarta time. In fact, several negative domestic sentiments are the reason behind the current depreciation. Firstly, revived concerns about Indonesia's current account deficit and, secondly, concerns about capital outflows due to dividend payments.

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