• Indonesia's Foreign Exchange Reserves Rise in February 2017

    Bank Indonesia, the central bank of Indonesia, announced that the nation's foreign exchange reserves had grown to USD 119.9 billion at end-February 2017, up from USD $116.9 billion in the preceding month (and the third straight month of growth). The increase was primarily attributed to foreign exchange receipts, which includes tax revenues and the government's oil & gas export proceeds. The rise was also possible on the back of the withdrawal of government foreign loans as well as the auction of Bank Indonesia foreign exchange bills (SBBI).

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  • King Salman's Visit to Boost Middle Eastern Tourists to Indonesia?

    Earlier this week it was announced by the Saudi Embassy that King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia decided to extend his holiday on Indonesia's island of Bali by three days. After signing 11 agreements on partnerships between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia with regard to various sectors, ranging from security to oil and gas, King Salman - who brought an entourage of 1,500 people to Indonesia - can now enjoy the beauty of Bali, the most popular holiday destination of foreign tourists in Indonesia.

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  • Non Performing Loans (NPLs) May Rise in Indonesia's Banking Sector

    Chances are big that the banking sector of Indonesia will see the non performing loan (NPL) ratio rise up to the range of 3.0 - 3.5 percent in 2017. Anton Gunawan, Chief Economist at state-controlled Bank Mandiri, says the rising NPL ratio is not so much caused by the lower quality of credit in Indonesia's banking system. The bigger problem is rising "special mention" loans, a loan grade that refers to assets that pose potential weaknesses that require close attention.

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  • Investment Grade Rating from S&P to Boost Capital flows into Indonesia

    American finance firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc expects a big flow of funds from Japan to enter Indonesia's capital markets if credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) decides to upgrade Indonesia's sovereign debt rating to investment grade. While Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service have already upgraded Indonesia to investment grade status several years ago, S&P still rates Indonesia's debt one notch below investment grade, implying various big institutional investors cannot invest in Indonesian debt as they require investment grade ratings from all three key credit ratings agencies.

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