The Today's Headlines section of Indonesia Investments is a daily updated section which contains the latest information with regard to topics that are currently causing headlines in Indonesia's media. Most of our headlines will 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.
Indonesian inflation remained under control in July 2019 although it was slightly higher than our estimate. Still, authorities will need to carefully monitor prices of specific food commodities amid the long dry season as inflation of the raw foodstuffs expenditure group has remained relatively high.
It was not the greatest start of the 3rd quarter for Indonesian manufacturers. In fact, in July 2019, Indonesian manufacturing conditions deteriorated for the first time since January 2019. The IHS Markit Indonesia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell from a reading of 50.6 in June 2019 to 49.6 in July 2019, below the 50.0 point threshold that separates expansion from contraction.
On Thursday (8/08) Indonesia Investments released the July 2019 edition of its monthly research report. The report aims to inform the reader of the key political, economic and social developments that occurred in Indonesia in the month of July 2019 and also touches upon key international developments that impacted on the Indonesian economy.
At July's two-day monetary policy meeting (held on 17-18 July 2019), the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) surprised us by deciding to cut the benchmark BI 7-day Reverse Repo Rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 5.75 percent. Meanwhile, the deposit facility and lending facility rates were lowered - also by 25 bps - to 5.00 percent and 6.50 percent, respectively.
