More and more people in Indonesia are starting to look at financial markets not just as something distant and complicated, but as a real option to explore. Trading has become a buzzword — but most folks don’t really know what it takes to get started, or what’s behind all the numbers and graphs. It’s not just about making fast money. It’s also about understanding how things work, especially in a local context where regulations, access, and risk tolerance vary a lot.

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On 24 February 2025, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was joined by two former Indonesian presidents (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo) when he launched Danantara, Indonesia’s new sovereign wealth fund. Likely, the presence of two former presidents served to underline the historic significance of this launch as well as underscoring broad-based political support for the move.

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In essence, the Indonesian rupiah showed the same performance in 2024 as it did in the previous four years, namely it continued to weaken against the US dollar, albeit (the outlook for) interest cuts in the United States did cause a sharp, yet temporary, rebound in August 2024. Shortly after that rebound, the rupiah came under heavy pressures again, which continued into the last month of 2024.

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There was some confusion about the government’s plan to raise the value-added tax (VAT) rate from 11 percent to 12 percent. Based on Law Number 7 of Year 2021 on Harmonization of Tax Regulations (specifically in Article 7), a one percentage point VAT hike from 10 to 11 percent materialized on 1 April 2022. That law also ordered for another one percentage point hike (to 12 percent) on 1 January 2025, the latest.

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