• Taking a Look into Indonesia's Public Debt to GDP Ratio

    Indonesia's public debt - as a percentage of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) - currently stands at 27 percent, or roughly IDR 3,200 trillion (approx. USD $241 billion). This debt is manageable and actually quite low compared to other key emerging economies or advanced economies. For example, Malaysia's and Brazil's public debt-to-GDP ratios reached 56 percent and 70 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the ratios of the USA and Japan stand at 105 percent and 246 percent, respectively. However, the level of debt is not that important. The important question is how is this debt used?

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  • Indonesia's 12th Stimulus Package also Targets Small & Medium Enterprises

    The government of Indonesia plans to unveil its 12th economic stimulus package next week. This 12th package will deal with the simplification of permits for the country's small and medium-sized enterprises. Indonesia's Chief Economics Minister Darmin Nasution said regional governments are still applying regulations designed by the central authorities although policy-making as well as the execution of these policies have been transferred to the regional authorities (in line with the nation's switch to regional autonomy, or decentralization of governance, in the Reformation era).

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  • Arrival of New Players Causes Pressure on Indonesia's Cement Prices

    The cement manufacturers in Indonesia are in need of participating in a cement price war in order to gain market share in Southeast Asia's largest economy. According to analysts a price war cannot be avoided due to the influx of new players in Indonesia's cement industry. This influx causes rising cement production capacity in Indonesia, while domestic cement demand remains sluggish. The new and smaller cement players offer low prices to gain market share. The bigger and long-term established cement companies may need to join in this price war in order to defend their market share.

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  • Indonesia Investments' Newsletter of 3 April 2016 Released

    On 3 April 2016, 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 over the last seven days. Most of the topics involve economic matters such as Indonesia´s 11th economic policy package, the latest inflation and manufacturing figures, an update on palm oil export, tenders for geothermal power development, fruit export, the fuel price policy, and much more.

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