After having seen his lead over rival Prabowo Subianto narrow considerably in recent months, the latest survey released by the Indonesia Survey Circle (LSI) today (07/07) indicates that presidential candidate Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo’s popularity has rebounded, although the race remains tight. According to the survey, Jokowi and running mate Jusuf Kalla secured 47.8 percent of respondents’ votes, slightly higher than their rivals Prabowo Subianto and running mate Hatta Rajasa at 44.2 percent.

Read more ›

Indonesian presidential candidate Joko Widodo, more popularly known as Jokowi, intends to increase the government’s tax revenue by allowing foreigners to buy luxury apartments, worth at least IDR 2.5 billion (approximately USD $211,864), in the larger cities of Indonesia and on the island of Bali (a popular tourist destination). Currently, foreigners cannot buy property in Indonesia. However, indirect structures, such as the use of their Indonesian wife’s name or an agent are common, meaning that the state loses out on luxury tax income.

Read more ›

On Saturday 5 July 2014, the fifth presidential debate between the two presidential pairs took place. Candidates Prabowo Subianto (joined by running mate Hatta Rajasa) and Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (joined by running mate Jusuf Kalla) faced off in the last debate. The theme of this debate was 'energy, food security and environment'. Sudharto P. Hadi, Professor of Sociology at the Diponegoro University in Semarang (Central Java) was the moderator. On Wednesday 9 July 2014, the Indonesian people will go to the ballot boxes to elect their next leader.

Read more ›

With only one more week to go before the Indonesian people will go to the ballot boxes on 9 July 2014 to vote for Indonesia's next leader, speculation and news about the presidential race has become intense. On social media, discussions among Indonesians about the election are intense and emotional. This is exacerbated by the high level of uncertainty with regard to the outcome of the election. Recent surveys indicate that the initial large gap between candidates Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Prabowo Subianto has nearly vanished.

Read more ›

Indonesia Investments updated the company profile of Indosat in our Indonesian Companies section. Indosat, the third-largest telecommunication operator in Indonesia with approximately 59.7 million cellular subscribers, made headlines in Indonesian newspapers after presidential candidate Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo said in a debate on Sunday (22/06) that he would like to see the Indonesian government buy back shares of the company (which had been sold to Qatar Telecom about a decade ago amid financial turmoil).

Read more ›

On Sunday evening (22/06), the third debate between the two presidential candidates of Indonesia - Joko Widodo (popularly known as Jokowi) and Prabowo Subianto - took place and was broadcast live on national television by various stations. Through these debates the presidential candidates are able to outline their vision while trying to increase their popularity among the Indonesian electorate (on 9 July 2014 the Indonesian people will vote for their new leader). The theme of this third debate was ‘international politics and national security’.

Read more ›

The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate had depreciated 0.20 percent to IDR 11,819 per US dollar by 15:30pm local Jakarta time based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index. This performance is in line with the performance of other emerging currencies in Asia, which all tend to weaken against today’s strengthening US dollar. One of the factors that pressures on the rupiah is the geopolitical tensions in Iraq which have resulted in a rising oil price (last week the oil price rose by 4.5 percent).

Read more ›

A survey of the Deutsche Bank, one of the world's leading financial service providers, showed that the foreign business community will not be content if Prabowo Subianto takes over the presidential seat from incumbent president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. According to this survey, 56 percent of respondents are planning to sell Indonesian assets if the electorate chooses Subianto as next president in the election that is scheduled for 9 July 2014. About 13 percent answered to buy Indonesian assets in the same scenario.

Read more ›

A survey conducted by Pusat Data Bersatu (PDB) shows that the Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo-Jusuf Kalla pair enjoys more popularity than the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa pair. Both teams compete to be elected as Indonesia’s new president and vice president by the people (on 9 July 2014). The result of the survey, which was conducted in seven cities, indicates that, if the election would be held today, Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla can rely on 32.2 percent of the vote, whereas the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa team received 26.5 percent of the vote.

Read more ›

On Monday evening (09/06), the first debate between Indonesia’s two presidential candidates (joined by their running mates) was held and broadcast live on national television by various Indonesian television stations. This debate is the first in a series of five debates in which both teams - Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo and Jusuf Kalla vs Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa - are able to share their vision and mission to the Indonesian electorate. The debate immediately became a trending topic on social media.

Read more ›

The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate is appreciating sharply on Monday (30/06). By 15:13pm local Jakarta time, the currency of Indonesia had strengthened 1.31 percent to IDR 11,838 against the US dollar. Main factors that cause this performance are the weakening US dollar (as a slowdown in the US economic recovery evokes expectations that the Fed Rate will not be raised soon) and falling oil prices; the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate declined 30 cents to USD $105.44 in mid-morning trade while Brent crude fell 22 cents to USD $113.08.

Read more ›

Senior economist at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), Didier Damanhuri, believes that Indonesia’s two presidential candidates - Joko Widodo (popularly known as Jokowi) and Prabowo Subianto - are both similar in economic approach as both men are primarily focused on high gross domestic product (GDP) growth as the measurement for economic development, while, in fact, many countries that only focus on GDP growth show a high degree of economic inequality.

Read more ›

Sunday evening (15/06), the second debate between Indonesia’s two presidential candidates - Prabowo Subianto and Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo - was held. This debate was broadcast live on various Indonesian television stations and - once again - managed to become a trending topic on social media. The debate, the theme of which was ‘development of the economy and social welfare‘, was characterized by a nationalistic and protectionist tone. This tone had already been set by Subianto in the past weeks but now Jokowi also stressed protectionism.

Read more ›

As the market already expected that Indonesia’s benchmark interest rate (BI rate) would be kept at 7.50 percent in June 2014, the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate did not undergo any significant fluctuations on Friday’s trading day. Based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the currency had depreciated 0.05 percent to IDR 11,796 per US dollar by 16:25pm local Jakarta time. The US dollar had to cope with some pressures due to US retail sales (rising only +0.3 percent in May 2014) and weaker US jobless claims data.

Read more ›

Just as unexpected as yesterday when the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (known as Jakarta Composite Index or IHSG) fell 1.06 percent amid positive domestic and international circumstances, the IHSG made a surprise rebound on Tuesday’s trading day. Yesterday’s fall was exorbitant and unfounded and today market participants made up for that performance by accumulating stocks that had lost value. As a result the IHSG gained 1.25 percent to 4,946.09 points on Tuesday (10/06).

Read more ›

Contrary to most Asian stock indices which were positively influenced by Japan’s higher economic growth as well as rising indices on Wall Street last Friday (06/06), the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (known as the Jakarta Composite Index or IHSG) fell considerably on Monday (09/06). Not even the appreciating Indonesian rupiah exchange rate could push the index back into the green zone. At the end of Monday’s trading day, the Jakarta Composite Index declined 1.06 percent to 4,885.08 points.

Read more ›

On the last trading day of the week, the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (known as the Jakarta Composite Index of IHSG) rose 0.06 percent to the level of 4,973.06 points. Trading volume was low as investors are still carefully monitoring political and economic developments in Indonesia. Earlier in the week, political uncertainty increased when the country's second-largest political party (Golkar) decided to join the coalition that supports the Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa pair in the July presidential election.

Read more ›

It had been speculated for a while, but yesterday the official declaration of Indonesia's presidential candidates and their running mates (the vice-presidential candidates) were presented. In the upcoming election, scheduled for 9 July 2014, Jakarta Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo will face Prabowo Subianto, former army general and former son-in-law to president Suharto (Indonesia's second president), in a battle for the country's presidential seat. What is there to tell about this battle?

Read more ›

After a promising start of the day, the rupiah exchange rate and Indonesian stocks lost all of their earlier gains ahead of closing on Monday day (19/05). Around 10:00 local Jakarta time, the rupiah rate appreciated more than 0.60 percent to IDR 11,346 per US dollar on speculation that Jusuf Kalla would be nominated as Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's running mate in the presidential election (9 July 2014), backed by a coalition consisting of the PDI-P, NasDem, PKB and Hanura. After the official declaration, however, the currency lost all of its earlier gains.

Read more ›

The week ended well for both the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate and the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG). Based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the rupiah appreciated 0.30 percent to IDR 11,413 per US dollar at the end of Friday's trading day (16/05). Meanwhile, the IHSG surged 0.80 percent to finish just above the psychological level of 5,000 points. The good performance was supported by investors' positive response towards the latest political developments in Indonesia.

Read more ›