• Oil News: Indonesia Rejoins OPEC in December after Seven Year Hiatus

    After a seven-year hiatus Indonesia will rejoin the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as a full member in December 2015. A statement on the website of the OPEC states that all members approved reactivating Indonesia’s full membership in the organization. At the next OPEC meeting, scheduled for 4 December 2015 in Vienna (Austria), Indonesia will be formally admitted back into the OPEC.

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  • Indonesia’s ‘Traditional’ Forest Fires & Haze Disrupt Commercial Flights

    Indonesia and Malaysia are again plagued by a traditional haze caused by forest fires in Palangkaraya (Central Kalimantan). The thick haze resulted in the cancellation of various commercial flights at the local airports in Jambi (Sumatra) and Surabaya (Java). Furthermore, it was reported that in parts of Malaysia an unhealthy air quality was recorded.

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  • Concern Mounting over Possible Debt Crisis in Indonesia

    Concern about Indonesia’s financial stability has heightened as the country’s foreign debt (USD $304.3 billion), by far, exceeds the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves which stood at USD $105.3 billion in late August 2015. Meanwhile, the weak rupiah (having depreciated nearly 15 percent against the US dollar so far in 2015) adds significant pressure on Indonesia’s foreign debt position hence causing concern about a looming debt crisis.

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  • Weak Purchasing Power: Indonesian Car Sales Remain Bleak in 2015

    Despite the hosting of the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show 2015 (20-30 August 2015), Indonesian car sales continued to shrank in August due to people’s weaker purchasing power amid the country’s economic slowdown. In August a total of 90,077 cars were sold in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, down 6.9 percent from the same month last year, according to the latest data from the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo).

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