Stakeholders in Indonesia's property sector may regret to learn that Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) decided to postpone deliberations on the tax amnesty bill until (at least) April 2016. This tax amnesty bill, originally planned to be implemented in early 2016, offers attractive tax rates to those tax evaders who declare untaxed wealth and repatriate their funds to Indonesia. If implemented in early 2016, then the bill was estimated to generate up to USD $4.4 billion in additional tax revenue in 2016. Meanwhile, part of repatriated funds would find their way into the nation's property sector.

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Astra International reported a 25 percent year-on-year (y/y) decline in net profit to IDR 14.4 trillion (approx. USD $1.1 billion) over 2015. This is the company's lowest net profit figure in the past five years. Main reasons for this weak performance is falling domestic consumption in Indonesia and persistently sliding commodity prices. Astra International, an investment holding company, is among the largest diversified conglomerates in Indonesia and regarded the barometer of the Indonesian economy due to the group's presence in various sectors.

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Indonesia's manufacturing industry was worth IDR 2,097.7 trillion (approx. USD $156 billion) in 2015, contributing 18.1 percent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), up from 17.8 percent of GDP in the preceding year. However, this higher contribution of manufacturing to the economy is mainly caused by the declining roles of oil & gas, commodities, agriculture and mining within the Indonesian economy. These sectors have all seen their roles decline amid persistently low commodity prices.

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Today, Bank Indonesia will start its February two-day policy meeting. Markets are eagerly awaiting whether the central bank of Indonesia will indeed cut its key interest rate (BI rate) again. Last month, it had cut the BI rate by 0.25 percent to 7.25 percent as inflation, the current account deficit and the rupiah rate were all under control. Although the rate cut was welcomed by the business community it was considered not enough to push borrowing costs lower in Southeast Asia's largest economy hence unable to boost economic activity significantly.

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Indonesian stocks and the rupiah are having a great day on Friday (05/02). During the first trading session Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index surged 2.33 percent to 4,774.68 points, while the Indonesian rupiah had appreciated 0.46 percent to IDR 13,577 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index) by 12:35 pm local Jakarta time. These positive developments are caused by the country's better-than-expected Q4-2015 GDP growth result. This morning it was announced that the Indonesian economy expanded 5.04 percent (y/y) in the fourth quarter of 2015.

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On Friday morning (05/02) Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced that Indonesia's economy expanded 5.04 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2015, slightly higher than most analysts had been expecting. Full-year 2015 gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 4.79 percent (y/y). Although this figure is in line with expectations (which ranged between 4.70 and 4.80 percent), the growth pace still constitutes a six-year low for Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy. Meanwhile, BPS also announced it had revised Q3-2015 GDP up from 4.73 (y/y) to 4.74 (y/y).

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The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) reported that Indonesian consumers are becoming increasingly optimistic about economic prospects and their personal financial situation this year, evidenced by a 5.1 point rise in Bank Indonesia's Consumer Confidence Index to 112.6 points in January 2016. This index is based on a survey, involving 4,600 households in 18 cities across the archipelago (a reading above 100 indicates optimism, while a reading below 100 indicates pessimism).

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As expected, credit growth in Indonesia slowed in 2015 amid the nation's overall economic slowdown. Loan growth was particularly affected by weaker demand for property and working capital loans. Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2015 is estimated to have slowed to 4.7 percent year-on-year (y/y), the country's slowest growth pace since 2009. In its January policy meeting Bank Indonesia decided to cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 7.25 percent, a move that should encourage loan growth this year in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

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New York-based Moody's Investors Service kept Indonesia's sovereign credit rating at Baa3 (stable outlook), the lowest level within the investment grade rating. Although the rating agency is positive about the strong nature of Indonesia's economy and the prudent fiscal policy that is safeguarded by the Indonesian government and central bank, it sees few room for an upgrade soon (to Baa2) as government revenue is not expected to rise significantly in the period ahead. Moody's released this statement on Thursday (28/01).

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Although oil prices somewhat recovered from 12-year lows on Friday (08/01) on China's rebounding stock market there is concern that Indonesia will not achieve its 2016 oil lifting target as the country's oil producers become less eager to boost production rates amid unattractive oil prices. Yesterday, Brent oil fell to USD $32.16 per barrel - the lowest level since 2004 - after China devalued its yuan and Chinese stocks plunged over 7 percent causing the circuit-breaking mechanism to kick in and even causing a global stock selloff.

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Although recently having slowed, Indonesia has experienced solid economic growth over the past ten years, with the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) almost doubling between 2001 and 2012. However, robust economic growth also resulted in significant environmental degradation and accelerated depletion of Indonesia’s natural resources. Sri Mulyani Indrawati, World Bank Group Managing Director (and former Indonesian Finance Minister), emphasized that Indonesia needs to shift from a ‘brown’ to a ‘green’ growth model.

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The Indonesian economy, from the expenditure side, is highly dominated by domestic demand. From Q1-2010 to Q1-2015, the average role of domestic demand reached 99.5 percent, with the lowest level at 96.8 percent. The positive side of this situation is that the Indonesian economy is relatively resilient to external factors. History shows that despite the US subprime mortgage crisis and financial crisis in Europe, economic growth in Indonesia remained relatively high and consistent compared to other countries.

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Within a couple of days Statistics Indonesia (BPS) is scheduled to release Indonesia’s GDP growth figure for the first quarter of 2015. Despite economic growth forecasts for full-year 2015 - both of the Indonesian government and international institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) - signalling a rebound from the five-year low of 5.02 percent (y/y) in 2014, various analysts expect to see further slowing economic growth in Q1-2015.

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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released a report today (24/03) in which it discusses recent economic developments in Indonesia. According to the report, Indonesia’s economic growth is projected to accelerate over the two years ahead provided that the Indonesian government continues to implement structural policy reforms. Such reforms - which include the acceleration of infrastructure development, reduction of logistical costs, and enhancing budget implementation - should lead to an improvement of the investment climate.

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In a surprise move, the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) decided to lower its key interest rate (BI rate) by 25 basis points to 7.50 percent at the Board of Governor’s Meeting on Tuesday (17/02). The deposit facility rate (Fasbi) was also lowered by 25 basis points (to 5.50 percent), while the lending facility rate remained steady at 8.00 percent. In a press release the central bank stated that the current policy direction is estimated to moderate the country’s wide current account deficit further, while inflation remains under control.

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In a World Bank blog, World Bank economist Alex Sienaert posted an update on the economy of Indonesia. After Statistics Indonesia (BPS) released the country’s latest GDP growth figures in early February, two important revisions regarding Indonesia’s GDP statistics have been made: (1) BPS has shifted the basis of the computation from the year 2000 to 2010, and (2) it adopted a significantly updated methodology and presentation of the statistics (updating national accounts from the 1993 System of National Accounts [SNA] to SNA 2008).

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Although Indonesia’s economic growth slowed further in 2014, there is optimism that growth will accelerate in 2015 despite sluggish global economic conditions (curbing Indonesia’s export performance) and Bank Indonesia’s relatively high interest rate environment. Indonesia’s central bank has raised its BI rate several times over the past one and a half years in an effort to combat high inflation (caused by fuel price hikes), curb capital outflows ahead of US monetary tightening, limit the current account deficit and support the rupiah.

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The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate appreciated and Indonesian stocks rose on Wednesday (04/02) on the back of rallying oil prices, a successful bond auction, easing tensions in Europe, and weak US factory orders. Based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index, Indonesia’s rupiah appreciated 0.21 percent to IDR 12,630 per US dollar on Wednesday (04/03). Meanwhile, the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (Jakarta Composite Index, abbreviated IHSG) climbed 0.45 percent to 5,315.28 points.

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In his presentation at the Indonesia Investment Summit 2015, organized in Jakarta on 15-16 January, Standard Chartered Bank Senior Economist Fauzi Ichsan said that despite the challenges amid global uncertain times, there remains plenty room and opportunity for Indonesia to grow robustly on the long-term. In fact, by 2030 Ichsan believes that Indonesia will be among the world's top ten countries in terms of largest economies. For investors it is important to understand the challenges and key pillars of economic growth.

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At the Indonesia Investment Summit 2015, organized in Jakarta on 15-16 January 2015, Bank Indonesia official Arief Mahmud presented several views of the central bank on the current Indonesian economy and the global and domestic challenges that it faces. As is widely known, Indonesia has been experiencing a process of slowing economic growth since 2011 due to sluggish global economic growth in combination with the rebalancing of the domestic economy. However, growth is expected to accelerate in 2015.

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