It remains difficult for Indonesia to achieve oil production targets that are set by the Indonesian government. In fact, it is unlikely that Indonesia will meet this year’s revised oil lifting target of 818,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) as set in the Revised 2014 State Budget. In the first half of 2014, Indonesia recorded an oil production rate of 797,000 bpd only. For almost two decades, Indonesia’s oil sector has been in a state of decline, evidenced by falling production rates, due to a lack of investments and aging oil fields.

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Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Tuesday (05/08) that Indonesia’s economy grew 5.12 percent in the second quarter of 2014 from the same quarter last year. This means that gross domestic product (GDP) growth of Indonesia has continued the slowing trend it has been experiencing since 2011. The 5.12 percentage point GDP growth in Q2-2014 is the slowest growth pace that has been recorded by Southeast Asia’s largest economy since the fourth quarter of 2009. What explains this slowing economic growth of Indonesia?

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According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the country’s trade balance in June 2014 recorded a deficit of USD $0.30 billion after the USD $0.05 billion surplus in the previous month. The performance of Indonesia’s trade balance was influenced by shrinkage of the country’s non-oil & gas surplus amid a lower oil & gas deficit compared to May 2014. Meanwhile, inflation was up 0.93 percent (month-to-month) in July 2014; a good performance amid the Ramadan and Idul Fitri festivities. Annual inflation eased to 4.53 percent (year-on-year).

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The dispute between the Indonesian government and mining giant Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) over the recently implemented ban on the export of unprocessed copper, gold, nickel, bauxite and iron is heading for a climax. In Indonesian media, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was quoted saying “NNT has undermined the sense of justice of the Indonesian people” and pronounced his disappointment of NNT’s reluctance to respect the sovereignty of the state. Previously, the government said it may revoke mining permits of NNT.

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