• Constitutional Court Confirms Widodo's Victory in Indonesia's 2019 Election

    On Thursday (27.06.2019) Indonesia's Constitutional Court read out its verdict on the subject of alleged election campaign violations in the 2019 presidential election that was held on 17 April 2019. Defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto had filed the legal challenge as he felt the official results (which had been announced by Indonesia's General Elections Commission/KPU) were heavily influenced by widespread fraud and vote-buying.

    Read more ›

  • Trade Balance Indonesia: Bouncing Back to a Surplus in May but Outlook Remains Gloomy

    After the massive USD $2.29 billion trade deficit in April 2019 (which was the biggest monthly trade deficit in six years), Indonesia managed to turn the balance into a USD $206.7 million surplus in May 2019. Albeit small, Indonesian policymakers must have been relieved seeing the surplus as previously there were mixed opinions whether Indonesia would record a surplus or deficit in May.

    Read more ›

  • Monetary Policy: What Did Bank Indonesia Decide at Its June Policy Meeting?

    In line with expectations, the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) decided to leave its benchmark interest rate – the BI 7-Day Reverse Repo Rate – unchanged at 6.00 percent, while also maintaining its deposit facility and lending facility rates at 5.25 percent and 6.75 percent, respectively, at the two-day monthly monetary policy meeting that was held on 19 and 20 June 2019.

    Read more ›

  • Property in Indonesia: Government Revises Luxury Goods Tax

    The Indonesian government has revised its luxury goods tax policy (in Indonesia known as PPnBM) for (luxury) property. Previously, apartments with a selling price of at least IDR 10 billion (approx. USD $700,000) and houses with a selling price of at least IDR 20 billion (approx. USD $1.4 million) were subject to a 20 percent luxury goods tax. The latest revision has now raised the minimum price of the property to IDR 30 billion (approx. USD $2.1 million) for all types of property.

    Read more ›