In the Safe Cities Index 2015, launched by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta is ranked at the bottom of the index. The Safe Cities Index, which covers 50 large cities worldwide (selected on factors which include regional representation and availability of data), based its ranking on an average score across four categories: digital security, health security, infrastructure safety and personal safety. In 2014, data from the Jakarta Police showed that 213 out of every 100,000 Jakartans were victims of various crimes.

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On 25 January 2015, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website in the last seven days. Most of the topics involve economic matters such as the impact of the Eurozone’s quantitative easing program on Indonesia’s stocks and currency, the global challenges that are being faced by Indonesia, an infrastructure update, international relations, and more.

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The current account deficit of Indonesia, which is expected to have improved slightly from 3.3 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013 to about 3 percent of GDP in 2014, is forecast to continue to improve in 2015 hence placing less pressures on the rupiah exchange rate and the economy in general. A wide current account deficit makes the country vulnerable to capital outflows in times of global shocks (for example looming higher US interest rates) as the deficit signals that Indonesia relies on foreign funding.

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Indonesian cement sales in 2014 reached 59.9 million metric tons, up 3.3 percent from domestic sales in the previous year but below the target that was set by the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI). The ASI targeted a sales growth rate of between 3.5 percent and 4.0 percent year-on-year. This sales target had in fact already been revised down from 6 percent (y/y) due to weak cement sales amid uncertainties brought about by Indonesia’s ‘political year’ (legislative and presidential elections) as well as weak global commodity prices.

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Growth of cement sales in Indonesia is estimated to have slowed in 2014 amid uncertainties brought about by the ‘political year’ (referring to the fragmented results of the country’s legislative and presidential elections and which led to the postponement of various infrastructure projects and other investments in Indonesia). Other factors that impacted negatively on cement sales this year were the central bank’s higher interest rate policy, low commodity prices and weakening purchasing power.

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Government investment service agency Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) targets IDR 524 trillion (USD $42 billion) worth of investments in 2015, a 15 percent growth from estimated investment realization this year (IDR 450 trillion). BKPM is optimistic that after the ‘political year’ of 2014 (due to the legislative and presidential elections) the new government will push for the implementation of various infrastructure projects such as toll roads, harbours and airports, thus making Indonesia more attractive to foreign investors.

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The sea toll road, a maritime program initiated by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, may reduce the country’s logistics costs by 10 to 15 percent, said Secretary of the Expert Team of the National Logistics System, Nofrisel. Currently, between 18 and 22 percent of companies’ production costs in Indonesia are absorbed by logistics costs, particularly due to expensive transportation costs, hence seriously reducing competitiveness of Indonesian companies. In peer regional countries this figure is below ten percent.

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Indonesia’s Finance Minister has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the context of Indonesia’s participation within the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The AIIB is a new multilateral international financial institution (initiated by China) that is to provide funds for infrastructure projects in the Asia Pacific region. This new institution is seen as a challenge to the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Asian Development Bank (ADB) which are all regarded as being dominated by developed countries.

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Main news headlines in Indonesia still cover the higher subsidized fuel prices implemented starting from the early hours of Tuesday (18/11). The previous evening, Indonesian President Joko Widodo had announced that prices of subsidized gasoline and diesel were to be raised by over 30 percent, immediately leading to long queues at local gas stations as well as public outcry as people’s purchasing power will diminish. Analysts and economists, however, agree that this move is correct and can lead to structurally higher GDP growth.

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Global rating agency Fitch Ratings affirmed Indonesia’s Sovereign Credit Rating at BBB-/stable outlook (investment grade status) on Thursday (13/11). This rating affirmation by the credit rating agency can be regarded as international recognition of prudent fiscal policy in Southeast Asia’s largest economy amid global uncertain times. Policy responses pursued by both the government and central bank of Indonesia have been well received by Fitch Ratings and managed to safeguard economic stability.

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Based on the latest reports - and contrary to earlier plans - the Indonesian government will not postpone the development of 15,200 MW of power projects. Earlier the government said it wanted to delay various power projects in an effort to curtail imports, thus improve the country's current account balance and ease heavy pressures on the rupiah exchange rate.

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If we take a look at Indonesia's central government spending in the first four months of 2018, then we detect something interesting. Overall, government spending has grown in the January-April 2018 period (compared to the same period one year earlier). However, growth in government spending is led by rising social assistance spending and rising subsidy spending. Meanwhile, growth of infrastructure spending has been much less robust. Does this mean that the Indonesian government has curtailed infrastructure development spending in order to relieve rising pressures on the budget deficit?

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The tourism industry of Indonesia is one of the most important industries in terms of the nation's foreign exchange earnings. However, compared to its neighboring countries - specifically Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand - Indonesia lags behind in terms of foreign visitor arrivals. This "failure" is partly attributed to the weak state of Indonesia's infrastructure. This includes the lack of enough airports or the lack of enough aircraft and passenger handling capacity at existing airports.

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Cement sales were good in January 2018 for Indonesian cement manufacturers, growth that is attributed to rising cement demand on the back of the government-led infrastructure development program, particularly the construction of toll roads. Indonesia's cement consumption rose 9.9 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 5.68 million tons in January 2018.

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The completion of the high-speed Jakarta-Bandung railway in West Java is expected to see a delay due to land acquisition and licensing troubles. The USD $5.9 billion project is now expected to be completed in 2020, one year later than originally planned.

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Revenue and profit of Wijaya Karya (Wika), one of Indonesia's biggest construction companies, is partly dependent on developments surrounding the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project. Earlier this month, Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered an evaluation of this railway project, which saw groundbreaking in 2016 but has shown limited progress ever since.

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It was a solid year for the Indonesian economy. The macroeconomic fundamentals of the nation have strengthened due to the hard work of the Indonesian government under the leadership of President Joko Widodo. However, there is no room for complacency as there remain major bottlenecks, while legislative and presidential elections - in which voters can approve or disapprove Widodo's performance - are scheduled for 2019.

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Last week Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated the 41.7-kilometer Parbarakan-Sei Rampah section of the Medan-Kualanamu-Tebing Tinggi toll road in North Sumatra. This Parbarakan-Sei Rampah section is now the longest piece of toll road on the island of Sumatra and will boost connectivity in the province of North Sumatra.

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In its latest report, the World Bank stated that Indonesia's macroeconomic fundamentals are solid and have been strengthening amid the central government's eagerness to implement critical structural reforms, while investment growth rose to the highest levels since the last quarter of 2015 (mainly investment in buildings and structures).

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Indonesian Minister of Home Affairs, Tjahjo Kumolo, made a statement in support of the Lippo Group's controversial Meikarta integrated township project. At the Indonesia Future City & REI Mega Expo 2017 on Thursday (14/09) Kumolo said Indonesia's regional governments should not unnecessarily obstruct private projects that help to develop the regional economy. He cited Meikarta as an example.

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