Various high government officials, including president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Finance minister Agus Martowardojo and National Development Planning minister Armida Alisjahbana stated that Indonesia's economy is estimated to grow between 6.3 and 6.8 percent in 2014. Its main economic pillars of support are thought to be (foreign and domestic) investments, domestic consumption, and government expenditure. Poverty is targeted to be reduced to ten percent of the population.

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The Sunda Strait bridge, a planned road and railway connection between the two western Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java, has been a dream of Indonesia's political elite since the 1960s. From both a political and an economic point of view, the connection between these two islands through physical infrastructure is a grand ideal. However, as with many other infrastructure projects in Indonesia, its realization tests people's patience.

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Yesterday, Statistics Indonesia (BPS), a non-departmental government institution, released Indonesia's export and import numbers of February 2013. Indonesia's imports reached US $15.32 billion, while its exports stood at US $14.99 billion. It has thus resulted in the continuation of a trade deficit (US $327.4 million). For Indonesia, which always reported trade surpluses until last year, it is a worrying scenario as the trade deficit and higher inflation put pressure on the IDR rupiah.

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Last Saturday, the Democratic Party (PD) selected Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the new chairman of the crumbling political party through an extraordinary congress in Bali. Yudhoyono thus replaced former chairman Anas Urbaningrum, who resigned from his post last month after being accused of involvement in a corruption case. It will be Yudhoyono's task to repair the image of his PD party, while still performing his duties as president.

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