• Government of Indonesia Postpones the Coal Royalty Hike

    The government of Indonesia decided to postpone its plan to raise royalties for the country’s coal miners. Bambang Gatot, senior official at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said the government will not raise coal royalties yet given the sector’s current troubled climate (referring to low global coal prices). Indonesian coal miners will be happy to hear this news as they, especially the smaller-sized coal miners, are having difficulty to survive in the post-2000s commodities boom era.

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  • Indonesian Rupiah Weakens Beyond IDR 13,400 per US Dollar Level

    Again, Indonesia’s rupiah is touching the IDR 13,400 per US dollar psychological boundary. According to the Bloomberg Dollar Index, Indonesia’s currency had depreciated 0.22 percent to IDR 13,405 per US dollar at 11:22 am local Jakarta time on Thursday (23/07), a level last seen when the country was still plagued by the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998. Crossing the psychological boundary could mean Indonesia’s central bank (Bank Indonesia) will intervene again to support the currency in order to safeguard people’s confidence in the currency.

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  • AkzoNobel Targets Indonesia as New Growth Market

    AkzoNobel, the Dutch multinational that is primarily engaged in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals, stated that it has shifted its focus from China to Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and Vietnam. Ton Buchner, Chief Executive Officer of AkzoNobel, said growth in China has lost its decade-long momentum and thus AkzoNobel will reduce investment realization in China and instead focus on new growth markets in Southeast Asia.

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  • Consumer Price Index Indonesia: July Inflation under Control

    The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) expects to see Indonesian inflation in July in the range of 0.46 - 0.60 percent month-on-month (m/m). Inflation in Indonesia always peaks during the months June, July and August due to increased consumer spending in the context of Ramadan and Idul Fitri celebrations as well as the start of the new school season. Earlier this month, Governor Agus Martowadojo said to expect annual inflation to dip below 7 percent in July, from 7.26 percent (y/y) in June.

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