• Indonesian Stocks Could Fall on Profit-Taking

    Indonesian stock markets have garnered a good deal of attention to start the year, with the Jakarta Composite Index (JKSE) showing gains of more than 3.2 percent for the period. This is something of an anomaly when we look at the global stock market as a whole, given the fact that most investors have already started to brace for a generalized tightening cycle in interest rates in several key economies.

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  • Indonesia Does Not Revise 2016 Tax Revenue Target, Realistic or Not?

    Indonesia's Finance Ministry said it will not revise the tax revenue target set in the 2016 State Budget. The Indonesian government targets to collect IDR 1,360.2 trillion (approx. USD $100 billion) worth of tax revenue in 2016, a 28.9 percent rise from tax revenue realization in 2015. However, although it is good to aim high - hence setting an ambitious target - it is also important to be realistic (to avoid budgetary turmoil and gain fiscal credibility, important for Indonesia to be eligible for a credit rating upgrade). How realistic is Indonesia's 2016 tax revenue target?

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  • Snapshot of the Indonesian Economy: Risks, Challenges & Development

    Tomorrow (05/02), Statistics Indonesia is scheduled to release Indonesia's official full-year 2015 economic growth figure. Nearly all analysts expect to see a figure that reflects the continuation of slowing economic growth. Southeast Asia's largest economy expanded 5.0 percent in 2014 and this is expected to have eased further to 4.7 percent or 4.8 percent in 2015 on the back of (interrelated) sluggish global growth, low commodity prices, and weak export performance. Domestically, Indonesia has or had to cope with high interest rates and inflation (hence curtailing people's purchasing power and consumption as well as business expansion).

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  • Rupiah Likely to Remain Under Pressure

    Broad market trends in the Indonesian rupiah have held relatively consistent over the last year, with a modest devaluation seen against the US dollar. We did see fluctuations in these trends during the summer months but many of these moves came as a result of external influences. One of the best examples here is the media turmoil that posted during this period with respect to a slowdown in the Chinese economy, and this has left many investors wondering whether the rupiah will be able to stand on its own merits and reverse some of its earlier weakness.

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