• Politics Indonesia: Arcandra Tahar & Ignasius Jonan Back in Cabinet

    On Friday (14/10) Indonesian President Joko Widodo appointed Ignasius Jonan as Indonesia's new Energy and Mineral Resources Minister. Jonan is the nation's former Transportation Minister who was replaced by Budi Karya Sumadi in a cabinet reshuffle in late July 2016. Meanwhile, the position of Energy and Mineral Resources Minister had been empty (although for the time being filled by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan) after the dismissal of Arcandra Tahar in mid-August 2016.

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  • Cement Sales Indonesia Down, Semen Indonesia Loses Rembang Case

    Cement sales in Indonesia - a key indicator to measure the state of infrastructure and property development - declined 3.3 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 5.64 million tons in September 2016. This decline was attributed to fewer cement demand from the property sector (housing and apartments). Meanwhile, shares of state-controlled cement maker Semen Indonesia fell 2.91 percent on Tuesday (11/10) after Jakarta's Supreme Court revoked the environmental permit for the company's USD $320 million cement plant in Rembang (Central Java).

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  • Heavy Volatility after Lifting of Bumi Resources' Trading Suspension

    The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) suspended trading of the shares of coal miner Bumi Resources between 1 July and 4 October 2016 because the company had not reported its financial report (covering the corporate earnings of 2015) in time. On Tuesday (04/10) Bumi Resources, part of the controversial Bakrie Group conglomerate, finally announced that it recorded a net loss of USD $1.9 billion over 2015. This poor performance was mainly attributed to the impairment of assets and write-offs for its receivables.

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  • Analysis Indonesian Economy: GDP, Monetary Policy & Stability

    The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) has become slightly less optimistic about Indonesia's economic growth in the third quarter of 2016. Bank Indonesia revised down its growth projection to below the 5 percent (y/y) mark for Q3-2016 (from an earlier forecast of 5.2 percent). However, the lender of last resort still expects to see a better performance compared to the 4.73 percent (y/y) pace posted in Q3-2015. Meanwhile, low inflation and a strong rupiah could result in another interest rate cut in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

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