• Economic Policy Package Indonesia: Bonded Zones & Import Tax Cut

    The second installment of Indonesia's September economic policy package, unveiled on Tuesday (29/09), received a warmer response from market participants compared to the first one (released on 9 September), evidenced by rebounding stocks and a stronger rupiah rate yesterday. Indonesia's latest policy package involves interest rate tax cuts for exporters, the speeding up of investment licensing for investment in industrial estates, and a relaxation of taxes on imports of capital goods in industrial estates and in the aviation industry.

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  • Indonesia Improves in WEF's Global Competitiveness Index 2014-2015

    Indonesia rose four positions in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index 2014-2015. Based on the Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015, released on Tuesday (29/09), Indonesia comes at 34th place in the ranking (out a total of 144 economies assessed across the globe). This improvement is a positive development although to some it may come as a bit of a surprise given Indonesia's slow progress in infrastructure development, high inflation and slowing economic growth.

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  • Roller Coaster Ride Indonesian Stocks and Rupiah. What Happened Today?

    Indonesian stocks experienced a remarkable roller coaster ride on Tuesday (29/09). After opening the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index fell more than two percent to a near three-year low. However, the index managed to finish the trading day at 4,178.41 points, a 1.41 percent rise. Meanwhile, Indonesia's rupiah managed to curb losses. Based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the rupiah passed beyond the IDR 14,800 per US dollar level several times but at the end of the day it had only weakened 0.11 percent to IDR 14,691 per US dollar.

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  • Population of Indonesia Grows at Worrying Pace, Says BKKBN

    The population of Indonesia, which numbers over 255 million people in 2015 (unofficial data), grows at a worrying pace according to Surya Chandra Surapaty, Head of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN). Currently, Indonesia's average annual population growth rate stands at 1.49 percent. This means that each year the Indonesian population expands by 4.5 million people (nearly the size of Singapore's total population).

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