• Rupiah Exchange Rate Update: Why is the Currency of Indonesia Weakening?

    The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate is heading for its biggest weekly decline since the second week of December 2013. According to the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the currency of Southeast Asia's largest economy had depreciated 0.36 percent to IDR 11,572 per US dollar by 2.30pm local Jakarta time on Friday (23/05). However, year to date, the rupiah is still among the best performing Asian emerging currencies against the greenback (+5.19 percent). What are the reasons that explain the rupiah's weak performance this week?

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  • Indonesia Presidential Election: Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo vs Prabowo Subianto

    It had been speculated for a while, but yesterday the official declaration of Indonesia's presidential candidates and their running mates (the vice-presidential candidates) were presented. In the upcoming election, scheduled for 9 July 2014, Jakarta Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo will face Prabowo Subianto, former army general and former son-in-law to president Suharto (Indonesia's second president), in a battle for the country's presidential seat. What is there to tell about this battle?

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  • Youth Unemployment in Indonesia: A Demographic Bonus or Disaster?

    High youth unemployment is one of the threats that is being faced by Indonesia. Indonesia has a young population as roughly half of the total population is below thirty years of age. This means that the country contains a potentially large workforce. But this demographic bonus can turn into a demographic disaster if this workforce cannot be absorbed by employment opportunities. The World Bank recently warned against Indonesia's high youth unemployment and misplaced focus on education spending.

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  • Government of Indonesia Proposes to Revise Macroeconomic Assumptions

    The government of Indonesia will submit a new draft proposal for the 2014 Revised State Budget (APBN-P 2014) on 20 May 2014. Of the seven basic macroeconomic assumptions in the 2014 State Budget (APBN 2014), three assumptions are proposed to be revised. These involve general economic growth, the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate, and crude oil lifting. The government felt that the assumptions need a revision as results in the first quarter of 2014 have not been up to expectation.

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