Freeport Indonesia, subsidiary of American-based Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold, is allowed to continue its open-pit mining activities. The company was forced to halt its mining activities temporarily after an underground tunnel collapsed in mid-May, resulting in the deaths of 28 people. After a thorough evaluation by an independent team of investigators, Freeport is allowed to resume operations. The permission was granted by Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

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Bloomberg reported that the investment agency of Indonesia's finance ministry will start a fund of IDR 3 trillion (USD $302 million) to finance the exploration of geothermal energy resources in Indonesia this year. Saritaon Siregar, the agency’s chairman, said this in an interview at a conference in Jakarta this week. The investment fund is in line with Indonesia's intention of lowering its dependency on expensive and environmentally unfriendly fossil fuels as a source for energy and electricity.

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Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) is a government controlled gas firm that forms Indonesia's largest natural gas transportation and distribution company. It operates a distribution network that extends for 3,865 kilometers and a transmission pipeline network that measures 2,047 kilometers. PGN plays an important role in Indonesia's electricity production as it sells about 40 percent of its total sales volume to the country's power generation industry. It also forms one of the largest Indonesian companies in terms of market capitalization.

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In order to increase government revenues, the Indonesian government announced that, starting from 2014, coal miners that have a Mining Business License (Izin Usaha Pertambangan/IUP) will have to pay a higher royalty fee to the central government. The decision was made during a meeting between the government and Commission XI of the House of Representatives (DPR) this week. The new royalty policy, which was originally planned to be introduced this year, is expected to result in an increase of IDR 4 trillion (USD $408.2 million) in state revenues.

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Indonesia's minister of Economy, Ir. M. Hatta Rajasa, stated that the government of Indonesia intends to realize economic growth of at least 6.2 percent in the second quarter of 2013 in order to remain on track for 6.3 percent growth for full year 2013. Although he reminded that it will take hard effort to realize this target, his message contained more optimism than Finance minister Chatib Basri's statement earlier this week who sees 6.0 percent of economic growth as the limit in Q2-2013.

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In recent months, positive fundamentals have coloured stock indices green. Despite volatility, these positive fundamentals remain today. Therefore, analysts of JP Morgan emphasize that people should not turn their backs to stock markets now. Risks are obviously always present but the analysts stress that people should not be too concerned about ongoing volatility. In fact, volatility should be used to one's advantage by purchasing when the index is low. Below are five arguments that JP Morgan mentions as reason to keep buying stocks.

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In a new survey, conducted by the Fraser Institute, that assesses the state of the investment climate in the mining sector in 2012-2013 in countries around the globe, Indonesia is ranked at number 96. Both tax and regulatory uncertainties in Indonesia's mining sector are cited as reasons for the low ranking of the country. As investments in the mining sector are capital intensive and long-term in nature, investors thus need a clear legal framework that is not susceptible to sudden changes due to political issues.

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In the draft for the State Budget of 2014 (RAPBN 2014), the government of Indonesia projects economic growth of between 6.4 and 6.9 percent. Continued global recovery is expected to result in higher GDP growth compared to 2012 (6.23 percent) as it will result in better demand for Indonesian products, such as commodities. The main pillar of Indonesia's GDP growth - domestic consumption - is expected to grow due to the population's higher purchasing power and the upcoming legislative and presidential elections.

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Oil production in Indonesia is targeted to be lifted to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) by October or November 2014 according to SKK Migas, the government unit that manages upstream activities in Indonesia's oil and gas sector. Crude oil production in the first quarter of 2013 was 830,900 bpd, eight percent lower than the target in the country's state budget. Indonesia's oil output has fallen steadily in the last decade due to a lack of exploration and other investments in the sector that was once the engine of Indonesia's economic growth.

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Today, Statistics Indonesia released Indonesia's economic growth figure for the first quarter of 2013. Compared to Q1-2012, Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.02 percent. This growth was supported by almost every sector except for Mining and Extracting, which fell 0.43 percent (YoY), indicating that natural resources are still not back on track. The largest contributor to Indonesia's Q1-2013 growth is Transportation and Communication, which grew 9.98 percent.

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Currently, one of Indonesia's main financial issues (and one which puts serious pressures on the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate) is the country's wide current account deficit. According to data from Statistics Indonesia, Indonesia's current account deficit totaled USD $8.4 billion in the third quarter of 2013. This figure is equivalent to a whopping 3.8 percent of Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP). Generally, a current account deficit that exceeds 2.5 percent of GDP is considered unsustainable.

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This week, a group of Dutch politicians and businessmen, led by prime minister Mark Rutte, will pay a four day visit to Indonesia. The aim of the visit is to smoothen bilateral relations and search for business opportunities between both countries. This Dutch group, which includes more than one hundred Dutch company delegates, forms the largest Dutch trade delegation that has visited Southeast Asia's biggest economy in the modern history. However, relations between the Netherlands and Indonesia are still complex today.

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Despite rising concerns about the slowing pace of the Indonesian economy, the deputy minister of Finance Bambang Brodjonegoro reminded investors that Indonesia's economic growth in the third quarter of 2013 still constitutes one of the highest growth rates around the globe. Economic expansion in Q3-2013 slid to 5.6% in Southeast Asia's largest economy. With the exception of China (7.8% GDP growth in Q3-2013), Indonesia's growth continues to outpace growth in other emerging markets, such as Brazil (3.3%) and Turkey (4%).

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ICRA Indonesia, an independent credit rating agency and subsidiary of ICRA Ltd. (associate of Moody's Investors Service), publishes a monthly newsletter which provides an update on the financial and economic developments in Indonesia of the last month. In the October 2013 edition, a number of important issues that are monitored include Indonesia's inflation rate, the trade balance, the current account deficit, the IDR rupiah exchange rate, and gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Below is an excerpt:

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Indonesia will most likely not meet its original GDP growth target of 6.3 percent (stipulated in the 2013 State Budget). Yesterday (06/11), it was announced by Statistics Indonesia that Indonesia’s GDP growth figure in the third quarter of 2013 was recorded at 5.62 percent (year-on-year, yoy), the weakest quarterly growth figure since 2009 when the global financial crisis impacted on Southeast Asia’s largest economy. In 2013, Indonesia feels the global impact again, in combination with domestic factors.

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Indonesia's central bank, Bank Indonesia, expects deflation of about 0.9 percent in September 2013. Statistics Indonesia, on the other hand, believes there will be limited inflation this month. Both institutions agree, however, on a forecast of at least 9 percent of inflation over full-year 2013. The bank's September forecast is based on a survey that was conducted in the second week of September. This survey showed that food commodities and government administered prices eased.

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After a strong performance yesterday, the Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG) fell 0.10 percent to 4,517.62 points on Tuesday (17/09). Part of the investor community grabbed their chance to engage in profit taking after yesterday's gain but most investors are careful and reluctant to make any major decision prior to the result of the Federal Reserve's FOMC meeting (17-18 September). It is expected that after this meeting there will be more clarity about the future of the Fed's quantitative easing program.

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Concerns have arisen over the government's plan to increase royalties and export duties for coal. The Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI) expects that this policy will lead to the closure of various coal miners while increasing acts of illegal mining. According to Bob Kamandanu, chairman of the APBI, 60 million tons of coal per year is not listed by any authority and thus can be labeled 'illegal'. Illegal coal mining also implies that the Indonesian government misses out on about IDR 5.6 trillion (USD $495.6 million) per year.

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According to global credit rating and research agency Fitch Ratings, Indonesia's major banks are robust against the rupiah currency slide due to their low unhedged foreign currency exposure, strong loss-absorption cushions and - in some cases - foreign ownership. The slowdown in the economy will weigh on these (rated) banks' operating environment, but is unlikely to damage their credit profiles to any great extent. Below we provide Fitch Ratings' report. This report can also be accessed on their website.

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Indonesia's current account deficit, which caused much alarm among the investor community, is expected to ease to about 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the second half of 2013. This assumption is supported by Indonesia's central bank and various analysts. The country's current account deficit reached USD $9.8 billion or 4.4 percent of GDP in Q2-2013. In combination with the weakening rupiah, higher inflation and the possible end to the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program, investors have been pulling money out of Indonesia.

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