The economy of Indonesia continues to be dominated by the island of Java, Indonesia's most populous island with around 130 million people or 60 percent of Indonesia's total population. In the second quarter of 2013, Java contributed 58.15 percent to the nation's total economic growth. Far behind Java are Sumatra (23.90 percent) and Kalimantan (8.73 percent). Within Java, the Greater Jakarta area accounts for 16.50 percent of the country's total economic growth, followed by East Java (15.21 percent) and West Java (14.05 percent).

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Although it was clear that Indonesia would see a high inflation rate in July 2013 as the impact of higher fuel prices would kick in, Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) was surprised to see the figure go up to 3.29 percent. Currently, Indonesia's annual inflation rate stands at 8.61 percent. Bank Indonesia's governor Agus Martowardojo said that this rate is far outside the central bank's target range and announced that the institution expects annual inflation to stay above 8%  throughout 2013, higher than its previous assumption of 7.8% at end-2013.

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Today (02/08), Indonesia's bureau for statistics announced that economic growth of Indonesia in the second quarter of 2013 reached 5.81 percent (YoY), which is the lowest growth rate since Q3-2010 and also lower than most analysts as well as the Indonesian government expected. The GDP figure reflects Indonesia's cooling economy. For the fourth consecutive quarter, the rate has weakened as the country has been under pressure: high inflation, a widening trade deficit and a weakening rupiah.

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According to Finance minister Chatib Basri, the Indonesian government expects the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to have grown by 6.1 percent in the first six months of 2013. This forecast falls short of the government's 6.3 percent GDP growth assumption in the state budget (APBN). Basri stated that the lower outcome is due to global factors, such as slowing economic growth in China and India. But the government's assumption is more optimistic than the forecast of the central bank, which expects growth between 5.1 and 5.9 percent.

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The Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) expects that investments in the second quarter of 2013 will grow by 25 percent to IDR 96.13 trillion (USD $9.6 billion) compared to Q2-2012. Although Indonesia's economic growth is under threat of slowing down to below an annual growth rate of six percent, the government agency still believes that total investments in 2013 can meet the target of IDR 390 trillion (USD $39 billion). Investments in Q1-2013 were recorded at IDR 93 trillion.

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A discount war ahead of Lebaran, the traditional celebration that follows after the holy fasting month of Ramadan is finished and when many Indonesians go back to their place of origin for a few days, is expected to spur car sales in July. It is a normal phenomenon that car sales increase ahead of Lebaran because an amount of people need a new car to carry them back to their places of birth. But this year the increase in car sales is expected to exceed sales figures in previous years as wholesalers use discount actions to reduce their car stockpiles.

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Standard Chartered Bank expects economic growth in Indonesia in 2013 to remain robust at 6.2%. The bank believes this is a realistic assumption amid global economic uncertainty and higher subsidized fuel prices which limits people's purchasing power. The greatest pillar of support for Indonesia's GDP growth is domestic consumption, and which is supported by Indonesia's demographic composition as the country not only has a large population (over 240 million people), but also a young one (half of the population is below thirty years of age).

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In its latest report, titled Asian Development Outlook Supplement, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has downgraded its forecast for economic growth in both 2013 and 2014 for developing Asia due to weak demand from industrial countries and slowing economic growth in China. The ADB revised down its growth forecast for developing Asia by 0.3 percent to 6.3 percent in 2013 and 6.4 percent in 2014. The Manila-based development bank also expects commodity prices to fall sharper than previously estimated. 

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After the World Bank signaled slowing economic growth in Indonesia, American multinational financial services corporation Morgan Stanley also detects problems in Southeast Asia's largest economy. According to Jonathan Garner, chief Asia and emerging-market strategist for Morgan Stanley, Indonesia’s stock market is the most vulnerable stock market in Southeast Asia in terms of sudden capital outflows. Morgan Stanley downgraded Indonesia's equities to underweight from equal weight and labeled the country as "a relatively over-owned country".

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On 2 July 2013, the World Bank released its July edition of the Indonesia Economic Quarterly. The report, titled Adjusting to Pressures, touches on the key developments over the past three months in Indonesia’s economy and places these in a longer term and global context. It regularly updates the outlook for the country’s economy and social welfare, and provides a more in-depth examination of selected economic and policy topics, as well as analyses of medium term development challenges.

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The year 2016 was a good one in terms of foreign investment in Jakarta's residential property sector even though Indonesia's property market remained sluggish. Various foreign property developers - including China's state-owned China Communications Construction Group (CCCG), Japanese firms Mitsubishi Corporation and Tokyu Land Corporation as well as Hong Kong's HongKong Land and Malaysia's Sime Darby Group - announced to engage in big property projects (in and around the capital city of Jakarta) that have a combined value of USD $2.8 billion.

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Global credit rating agency Fitch Ratings affirmed Indonesia's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings at 'BBB-' but revised the outlook from 'stable' to 'positive'. The improvement is primarily attributed to Indonesia's low government debt burden and favorable economic growth outlook, while structural reforms (the government's economic policy packages that have been launched since September 2015 as well as the tax amnesty program) are gradually improving the nation's business and investment climate.

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Throughout the year 2016 the economy of Indonesia was plagued by major challenges stemming from abroad. In fact, most countries around the globe have been busy to soften the impact of low global economic growth on the local economy. In the case of Indonesia, authorities have unveiled a series of 14 economic policy packages aimed at improving investment, trade and purchasing power. Although it remains difficult to implement these packages in full force (due to the low quality of human resources at the local government level or conflicts of interests), they have helped to push Indonesia's economic growth into higher gear.

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An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Luis E. Breuer, visited Indonesia between 7 and 18 November 2016 to conduct the annual Article IV Consultation. The IMF team exchanged views with Indonesian government officials, Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia), and other public agencies, as well as representatives of the private sector, academics, and students on recent economic and financial market developments and the near-to-medium-term economic outlook.

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Bank Indonesia (BI) is the central bank of the Republic of Indonesia, and was known as "De Javasche bank" or "The Java Bank" in the colonial period.  Bank Indonesia was founded on 1 July 1953 from the nationalization of De Javasche Bank. As an independent state institution, Bank Indonesia is fully autonomous in formulating and implementing each of its assumed tasks and most policy goals tend to center around the ability to stabilize prices in the economy.

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After two years in office, the time is ripe now to take a look at the performance and accomplishments of the government under the leadership of Joko Widodo, often called Jokowi. Indonesia's seventh president was a bit unlucky. In the first year of his rule, commodity prices were at multi-year lows (curbing Indonesia's foreign exchange earnings) amid sluggish global economic growth, while capital outflows from Indonesia occurred on the back of monetary tightening in the USA, sending the rupiah to a 17-year low in September 2015.

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The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) has become slightly less optimistic about Indonesia's economic growth in the third quarter of 2016. Bank Indonesia revised down its growth projection to below the 5 percent (y/y) mark for Q3-2016 (from an earlier forecast of 5.2 percent). However, the lender of last resort still expects to see a better performance compared to the 4.73 percent (y/y) pace posted in Q3-2015. Meanwhile, low inflation and a strong rupiah could result in another interest rate cut in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

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In line with the performance of most stocks in Asia, Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index plunged 1.66 percent to 5,281.92 points on Friday (09/09). Several matters brought negative market sentiments to Asia: the European Central Bank (ECB) seems unwilling to boost asset purchases, North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test, while Indonesia's central bank announced that the nation's retail sales expanded at a slower pace in July 2016. Meanwhile, the Indonesian rupiah depreciated 0.34 percent to IDR 13,108 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index).

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After Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said she expects Indonesia's gross domestic product growth at 5.1 percent (y/y) in full-year 2016, Chief Economics Minister Darmin Nasution is slightly more optimistic. Nasution puts his GDP growth projection at 5.2 percent (y/y) this year despite the government's spending budget being cut by IDR 137.5 trillion. According to Nasution, rising investment realization should push economic growth to 5.2 percent (y/y), offsetting the negative impact of fewer state spending.

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Bank Indonesia cut its projection for credit growth in the nation's banking sector this year from the range of 10 - 11 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 7 - 9 percent (y/y). This downward revision is in line with the central bank's earlier decision to cut its forecast for economic growth from the range of 5.0 - 5.4 percent (y/y) to 4.9 - 5.3 percent (y/y) in 2016. The slightly less rosy outlook is caused by the Indonesian government's decision to cut spending for the remainder of the year, while global economic growth remains subdued.

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