• Kebakaran Hutan & Kabut Asap ‘Tahunan’ Indonesia Menganggu Penerbangan Komersil

    Indonesia dan Malaysia kembali dilanda oleh kabut asap tahunan yang disebabkan oleh kebakaran hutan di Palangkaraya (Kalimantan Tengah). Kabut asap yang tebal ini telah menyebabkan pembatalan sejumlah penerbangan komersil di bandara-bandara lokal di Jambi (Sumatra) dan Surabaya (Jawa). Sejauh ini, dilaporkan bahwa sejumlah tempat di Malaysia memiliki kualitas udara yang tidak sehat.

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  • Concern Mounting over Possible Debt Crisis in Indonesia

    Concern about Indonesia’s financial stability has heightened as the country’s foreign debt (USD $304.3 billion), by far, exceeds the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves which stood at USD $105.3 billion in late August 2015. Meanwhile, the weak rupiah (having depreciated nearly 15 percent against the US dollar so far in 2015) adds significant pressure on Indonesia’s foreign debt position hence causing concern about a looming debt crisis.

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  • Weak Purchasing Power: Indonesian Car Sales Remain Bleak in 2015

    Despite the hosting of the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show 2015 (20-30 August 2015), Indonesian car sales continued to shrank in August due to people’s weaker purchasing power amid the country’s economic slowdown. In August a total of 90,077 cars were sold in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, down 6.9 percent from the same month last year, according to the latest data from the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo).

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  • Indonesia’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Fall as Central Bank Defends Rupiah

    Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserves fell to USD $105.3 billion in late August 2015 (from USD $107.6 billion in the preceding month) as the government used foreign exchange (forex) for external debt payments while the central bank (Bank Indonesia) used part of the forex to intervene in the currency market in an effort to support the ailing rupiah rate which has been under severe pressure amid looming further monetary tightening in the USA and concern about the hard landing of China’s economy.

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