• Why Did Indonesian Stocks and Rupiah Weaken Today?

    Contrary to expectations, Indonesian stocks and the rupiah had a weak start of the new year. On Monday (04/01) Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index fell 1.46 percent to 4,525.92 points, while the Indonesian rupiah depreciated 0.82 percent to IDR 13,943 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index). The performance of Indonesian stocks is in line with the performance of stocks around the globe. In China stock trading was even halted twice due to its plunging index. What happened today?

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  • Consumer Price Index Indonesia: Inflation 0.96% in December; 3.35% in 2015

    Indonesia's inflation figure in December 2015 was higher than expected at 0.96 percent month-on-month (m/m). The monthly inflation rate was high due to rising prices of food and transportation caused by the Christmas and New Year celebrations. Nevertheless, Indonesia's annual inflation rate fell to the lowest level since 2010 as the impact of the November 2014 subsidized fuel price hike vanished from the annual inflation figure, hence inflation realization falling well below the government target (5 percent) and the central bank's target range (3 - 5 percent) in 2015.

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  • Manufacturing Industry Indonesia Contracts for 15th Straight Month

    The latest survey from Nikkei showed that Indonesia's manufacturing sector contracted for the 15th straight month. In the last month of 2015 factory activity in Indonesia showed a reading of 47.8, improving from a reading of 46.9 in November but remaining stubbornly below the 50.0 level that separates contraction from expansion. Since October 2014 Indonesia's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) has been in contraction.

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  • Growth of Indonesia's Shoe Export to Persist in 2016

    While the domestic market remained sluggish, exports of Indonesia's footwear and shoe products show a more positive development. The Indonesian Footwear Association (Aprisindo) estimates that the nation's footwear exports rose 6.8 percent (y/y) to USD $4.7 billion in 2015. Based on the latest data from Indonesia's Trade Ministry, Indonesian footwear/shoe exports reached USD $3.66 billion in the January-October 2015 period, up 10 percent from exports in the same period one year earlier. Eddy Widjanarko, Chairman of the Aprisindo, added that exports have risen both in terms of value and volume.

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