Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.

Latest Reports GDP

  • Moody's: Indonesia's Budget Deficit Under Control After Fuel Price Hike

    Credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service stated in a report released on Monday (24/06) that it is positive about the impact of the increase in price of subsidized fuel in Indonesia. Through this measure, the budget deficit of the Indonesian government is estimated to remain within 3 percent of GDP (the maximum threshold that is set by the government). Last Saturday (22/06), the price of gasoline was raised by 44 percent to IDR 6,000 and the price of diesel by 22 percent to IDR 5,500 despite widespread protests across the country.

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  • New Macroeconomic Assumptions in Indonesia's Revised State Budget

    After a long plenary session on Monday (17/06), Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) and the government have agreed to the revised 2013 State Budget (APBN-P). The revision was needed as original macroeconomic assumptions began to fall out of tune with reality. Due to global and domestic conditions a number of assumptions needed to revised down. Most controversial decision that was taken is the increase in price of subsidized fuel by 44 percent to IDR 6,500 (USD $0.66) per liter.

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  • Central Bank Uses Foreign Exchange Reserves to Support the Rupiah

    To ease pressures on the IDR rupiah, Indonesia's central bank has used about USD $2.0 billion of its foreign exchange reserves to support the currency as the country's continuing trade deficit as well as concerns about the possible increase in price of subsidized fuel in June has caused much uncertainty about the level of inflation in the near future and puts downward pressure on the rupiah. Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves fell to USD $105.2 billion in late May 2013 from USD $107.3 billion at the end of April.

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  • Rajasa: Indonesian Government Targets GDP Growth of 6.2% in Q2-2013

    Indonesia's minister of Economy, Ir. M. Hatta Rajasa, stated that the government of Indonesia intends to realize economic growth of at least 6.2 percent in the second quarter of 2013 in order to remain on track for 6.3 percent growth for full year 2013. Although he reminded that it will take hard effort to realize this target, his message contained more optimism than Finance minister Chatib Basri's statement earlier this week who sees 6.0 percent of economic growth as the limit in Q2-2013.

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  • Indonesian Government and Commission XI Agree on Budget Revision

    The Indonesian government and Commission XI of the House of Representatives (DPR) agreed on several macroeconomic projections for the 2013 Revised State Budget (RAPBN-P 2013). The government requested a number of modifications to the 2013 State Budget as earlier assumptions, mentioned in the original 2013 State Budget, were not in line with the current economic conditions. Before reaching the agreement, fractions in the commission changed a number of proposed revisions of the government.

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  • Indonesian Government Projects 6.4% to 6.9% Economic Growth in 2014

    In the draft for the State Budget of 2014 (RAPBN 2014), the government of Indonesia projects economic growth of between 6.4 and 6.9 percent. Continued global recovery is expected to result in higher GDP growth compared to 2012 (6.23 percent) as it will result in better demand for Indonesian products, such as commodities. The main pillar of Indonesia's GDP growth - domestic consumption - is expected to grow due to the population's higher purchasing power and the upcoming legislative and presidential elections.

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  • Market Capitalization of Indonesia's Stock Exchange Grows Strong

    Market capitalization of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) has surpassed its psychological boundary of IDR 5,000 trillion (USD $512.82 billion) last week, supported by the new record high level position of the Indonesia Stock Index (IHSG) on Friday at 5,145.68 points. Up to 17 May 2013, the IHSG gained 18.41 percent this year, thus outperforming all other major stock indices in Asia except for the Philippines and Japan's Nikkei, which gained 41.64 percent this year amid an aggressive stimulus plan of the central bank of Japan.

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  • Bank Indonesia Revises Down GDP Growth, Interest Rate Kept at 5.75%

    The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia, or BI) kept its benchmark interest rate at 5.75 percent and its overnight deposit facility rate (FASBI) at four percent as the country's core inflation figure is still within the target range of the central bank (3.5-5.5 percent). Core inflation currently stands at 4.12 percent (YoY). However, as the price of subsidized fuel is expected to rise in June, inflation may increase and could trigger a policy response by Bank Indonesia later this year.

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  • Indonesia's GDP Slows Down to 6.02 Percent in Quarter 1 - 2013

    Today, Statistics Indonesia released Indonesia's economic growth figure for the first quarter of 2013. Compared to Q1-2012, Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.02 percent. This growth was supported by almost every sector except for Mining and Extracting, which fell 0.43 percent (YoY), indicating that natural resources are still not back on track. The largest contributor to Indonesia's Q1-2013 growth is Transportation and Communication, which grew 9.98 percent.

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  • Number of Foreign Tourists in Indonesia Rises to 2 Million in Q1-2013

    According to data from Statistics Indonesia (Badan Pusat Statistik), Indonesia was visited by over 725 thousand foreign visitors in March 2013, up 10.1 percent compared to the same month last year. The Indonesian government has set the ambitious target of welcoming a total of nine million foreign tourists in 2013. In 2014, it wants at least 10 million foreigners to visit Indonesia. The government expects these increases to originate mainly from the Asia-Pacific region itself.

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Latest Columns GDP

  • Indonesian Government Releases 'Emergency Plan' to Support Economy

    As had been announced previously, today (23/08) the government of Indonesia released an 'emergency plan' that aims to improve the financial sector while restoring confidence in the country's fundamentals as turmoil emerged on Indonesia's stock exchange, bonds market and the rupiah. Economic minister Hatta Rajasa said that this plan consists of four packages. These four packages cover the current account deficit, rupiah performance, economic growth, purchasing power, inflation and investments.

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  • Indonesian Government Proposes $32.6 Billion of Subsidy Spending in 2014

    The government of Indonesia proposes to allocate IDR 336.24 trillion (USD $32.6 billion) for subsidy spending in the 2014 state budget draft: IDR 284.7 trillion (USD $27.6 billion) for energy subsidies and IDR 51.6 trillion (USD $5.0 billion) for non-energy subsidies. The proposed amount implies a 3.41 percent fall in total subsidy allocation compared to Indonesia's state budget in 2013. However, despite a reduction, subsidy expenditure is still large at 18.5 percent of total government spending (IDR 1,816.7 trillion).

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  • Why Did Indonesia's Main Stock Index (IHSG) Fall on Monday?

    Why Did Indonesia's Main Stock Index (IHSG) Fall on Monday?

    Analysts expect that Indonesia's benchmark stock index (IHSG) will end mixed today (20/08) after yesterday's large plunge amid heavy market concerns. Yesterday, the index dropped 5.58 percent to 4,313.52 points, the lowest since October 2011. Indonesia posted a current account deficit in the second quarter of 2013, while Thailand entered into a recession. The MSCI Emerging Market index¹, which includes both countries, fell 1.4 percent to a six-week low. Below a short overview of factors that caused negative sentiments on Indonesia's market.

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  • Indonesia's Main Stock Index (IHSG): the Ship that is Rocked by a Storm

    For several weeks now, Indonesia's main stock index (IHSG) has been experiencing a sharp correction. As I wrote in my previous columns, market participants have been waiting for several important macro economic data, to wit Indonesia's economic growth figure for the second quarter of 2013, the July 2013 inflation rate, and the country's trade balance statistics for the first six months of this year. Now all above results have been released, we can analyze further the impact of these macroeconomic results as well as investors' reaction to it.

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  • Government Target: Indonesia's Unemployment Rate to 5.7% in 2014

    The government of Indonesia has the ambition to reduce Indonesia's unemployment rate to about 5.7 percent in 2014. This ambition was pronounced by Armida Alisjahbana, the minister of National Development Planning. According to the latest data released by Statistics Indonesia, the country's unemployment rate currently stands at 5.92 percent. The minister stressed that the unemployment target of 6 percent that was set in Indonesia's National Medium Term Development Plan to be reached in 2014, has already been achieved.

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  • Indonesia's Foreign Exchange Reserves Fall, Current Account Deficit Grows

    The foreign exchange reserves of Indonesia keep on falling from its historical peak of USD $124.64 billion in August 2011 to USD $92.67 billion at the end of July 2013. This development seems to highlight long-standing weaknesses in Indonesia's sovereign's external finances, as credit agency Fitch Ratings detected on several occasions before. The republic of Indonesia is currently characterized by four deficits, to wit a current account deficit, a balance of payments deficit, a trade balance deficit and a fiscal deficit.

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  • Slowing Growth in Indonesian Cement Sales Continues in Semester II

    Cement sales in Indonesia grew by seven percent to 32.9 million tons in the period January to July 2013. This pace of growth is significantly lower compared to the double-digit cement growth rate last year and thus forms another sign of cooling economic growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy (cement sales are a good indicator to measure the state of economic growth of a country). A slowdown in domestic cement sales is likely to continue in the second half of 2013, partly due to a decline in infrastructure projects.

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  • Despite Higher Idul Fitri Consumption, Indonesia May Not Reach GDP Target

    Although the holy fasting month of Ramadan and subsequent Idul Fitri celebrations always provide a boost for national economic growth in Indonesia as domestic consumption tends to peak, analysts believe that it will not contribute significantly to the government's 6.3 percent GDP growth target this year. During Ramadan and Idul Fitri (known as Lebaran), Indonesian consumers generally spend more on food products, clothes, shoes, tickets for transport and hotels than in other months, and thus lead to increased economic activity.

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  • Possible End to Quantitative Easing Will Impact on Emerging Economies

    Worldwide, most stock indices fell on Wednesday (07/08), particularly Japan's Nikkei index, after it has been speculated that the Federal Reserve may phase out the third round of its quantitative easing program in September 2013. This program, involving a monthly USD $85 billion bond-buying package, aims to spur US economic growth while keeping interest rates low. However, one important side effect has been rising stock markets around the globe. Now the end of QE3 is in sight, investors shy away from riskier assets.

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  • Investments in Indonesia Continue to Slow; Government Revises Target

    Growth of Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) in Indonesia has continued to slow down in the first six months of 2013. In the first quarter of 2013, GFCF rose 5.78 percent but in the second quarter the pace fell to 4.67 percent. These results are much lower than last year's quarterly growth rates as can be seen in the table below. In fact, the growth rate in Q2-2013 constitutes the lowest growth rate in the last 13 quarters. In Q2-2013, all sectors experienced weakening investments except for domestic machinery and equipment.

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