Bagian Berita Hari Ini adalah bagian yang diperbarui setiap hari dan berisi informasi terkini mengenai topik-topik yang mewarnai pemberitaan di media massa Indonesia pada hari ini. Sebagian besar berita yang diterbitkan di sini meliputi hal politik, ekonomi dan sosial. Namun, seiring dengan penampilan berita terkini, tentu belum meliputi analisis yang mendalam. Silakan lihat kolom Berita, Keuangan atau Bisnis jika Anda ingin membaca topik tertentu dengan analisis yang lebih mendalam.
Despite US dollar strength amid promised tax cuts in the USA and looming higher US interest rates, the Indonesian rupiah is not expected to depreciate as much as its Asian counterparts according to the DBS Bank. On Wednesday (01/03) the rupiah weakened 0.19 percent to IDR 13,363 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index). So far this year, however, the rupiah has strengthened nearly one percent against the greenback.
In line with expectations, Indonesia's inflation rate accelerated in February 2017, particularly due to higher prices in the category "housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel". On Tuesday (01/03) Statistics Indonesia announced that Indonesia's annual headline inflation rose to 3.83 percent (y/y), up from 3.49 percent (y/y) in the preceding month. On a monthly basis, Indonesian inflation was recorded at 0.23 percent (m/m), the highest monthly February inflation figure since 2014.
Amid falling output and declining new orders as well as sharply rising input costs, Indonesia's manufacturing activity contracted again in February 2017. The Nikkei Indonesia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to a reading of 49.3 in February, sliding from 50.4 in the preceding month (a reading below 50.0 indicates contraction, while a reading above 50.0 points at expansion of the manufacturing sector). Meanwhile, buying levels remained unchanged.
Astra International, among the biggest diversified conglomerates in Indonesia, plans to distribute a total of IDR 6.8 trillion (approx. USD $511 million) worth of dividend for financial year 2016 to its shareholders, about 45 percent of the company's total net profit (slightly below the 50 percent payout ratio in the preceding year). Astra's 2016 dividend involves final dividend of IDR 113 per share and interim dividend of IDR 55 per share (hence total dividend of IDR 168 per share).
