Menteri Perdagangan Indonesia Rachmat Gobel mengkonfirmasi bahwa larangan penjualam alkohol di semua minimarket dan kios akan terus berlanjut setelah 16 April 2015. Larangan ini, diatur dalam Peraturan Menteri Perdagangan No. 06/M-DAG/PER/1/2015 mengenai Pengendalian dan Pengawasan terhadap Pengadaan, Peredaran, dan Penjualan Minuman Beralkohol (yang ditandatangani oleh Menteri Perdagangan pada 16 Januari 2015), melarang penjualan minuman dengan kandungan alkohol antara 1-5 % (disebut sebagai minuman alkohol golongan A) di semua minimarket dan kios.

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The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) announced that the country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by USD $3.9 billion to USD $111.6 billion at the end of March 2015 as the central bank used part of the forex reserves to support the Indonesian rupiah which had started to depreciate markedly due to bullish US dollar momentum amid further looming monetary tightening in the USA. The rupiah had fallen to a 17-year low of IDR 13,237 per US dollar in mid-March as market players are anticipating an interest rate hike in the USA.

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Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest FOMC meeting (17-18 March), released Wednesday (08/04), show that the US central bank is divided about the timing of higher US interest rates. Several policymakers would approve such an interest rate hike in June 2015, while others would prefer to see rates increase later this year or even next year as they consider that the US economy is still not strong enough yet. However, when reading the minutes there are some signs suggesting that the institution is on course to raise its key rate this year.

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Investors in Asian markets should not be overly concerned about slowing economic growth in China or bullish US dollar momentum ahead of higher US interest rates as economic growth rates in this region are still significantly higher than in other parts of the world. Thanks to a burgeoning middle class segment (which constitutes a strong consumer force), Asia has great prospects for the long-term. This is the message conveyed in the words of Christophe Palumbo, Senior Business Development Manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.

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