The Today's Headlines section of Indonesia Investments is a regularly updated section which contains the latest information with regard to topics that are currently causing headlines in Indonesia's media. Most of our headlines cover political, economic and social matters. As a consequence of their recent nature, these topics may not have crystallized fully yet and can, therefore, lack a profound analysis. For publications with a more in-depth understanding of subjects, we refer you to our News, Financial or Business columns.
The Indonesian government proposed the rupiah value at IDR 13,500 per US dollar in the 2018 State Budget (that still requires approval from the House of Representatives). This implies the government expects the rupiah to depreciate modestly in the period ahead. Currently, the rupiah is trading at IDR 13,356 per US dollar (21/08). In the Revised 2017 State Budget the rupiah value target was set at IDR 13,400 per US dollar.
Riska Afriani, analyst at OSO Sekuritas, believes Indonesia's big cap stocks have limited room to advance in the remainder of 2017 because they have already shown significant growth so far in 2017 (in line with the rising benchmark Jakarta Composite Index that touched a record high in July 2017). However, some big caps may still show some more marked movement than others.
On 20 August 2017, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website over the last seven days. Most of the topics involve economy and market-related matters such as the proposed 2018 State Budget, foreign investment in the hospital industry, the trade balance, the current account balance, the automotive industry, public-private partnerships, and more.
Stakeholders in Indonesia's plastics industry are not happy to see the government eager to impose an excise tax on plastic bags in the proposed 2018 state budget. Fajar Budiyono, Secretary-General of the Indonesian Olefin, Aromatic and Plastic Industry Association (Inaplas), is against the excise tax saying it will not be a solution to environmental pollution. Instead, the government should focus on enhancing plastic waste treatment.
