The Today's Headlines section of Indonesia Investments is a regularly updated section which contains the latest information with regard to topics that are currently causing headlines in Indonesia's media. Most of our headlines cover political, economic and social matters. As a consequence of their recent nature, these topics may not have crystallized fully yet and can, therefore, lack a profound analysis. For publications with a more in-depth understanding of subjects, we refer you to our News, Financial or Business columns.
Although Indonesia's cigarette industry is considered to be a sunset industry (which refers to an industry that has passed its peak or boom periods) there are two factors that may somewhat pause the industry's decline on the short and middle-long term.
The Indonesian government announced the 16th economic policy package late last week. This latest package is important for direct investors, including foreign investors as it includes a revision of the country's Negative Investment List (in Indonesian: Daftar Negatif Investasi), hence opening up opportunities for foreigners to invest in Indonesia.
Although we predicted in our latest research report that Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) would raise its benchmark interest rate at the two-day monetary policy meeting on 14-15 November 2018, we were still taken by surprise after the decision was announced. After all, the rupiah had appreciated significantly in the days after the launch of our October research report.
Semen Indonesia, the country's largest cement manufacturer, announced that it has signed a conditional sales & purchase agreement with LafargeHolcim Ltd to acquire a 80.6 percent stake in Holcim Indonesia, the third-biggest cement manufacturer in Indonesia. This USD $917 million deal not only rocks Indonesia's cement industry, but also makes Semen Indonesia's role in the domestic cement industry even more dominant, while also turning the company into one of the world's largest cement manufacturers.
