Today, the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) decided to keep its key interest rate - the seven day reverse repo rate - at 4.25 percent, a decision that had been expected by most - if not all - analysts as there have been rising pressures on the rupiah exchange rate after two surprise rate cuts in August and September, while there remain plenty of external matters that make investors careful about investing in emerging market assets.

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Bank Indonesia held its key rate at 4.25 percent at the October 2017 policy meeting. This decision was in line with expectations. In fact, previously, Bank Indonesia officials had already indicated that they would pause their eagerness to ease monetary policy. Since January 2016, the central bank of Indonesia had already cut the benchmark interest rate eight times from 7.25 percent to 4.25 percent in an effort to boost economic growth.

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The governor of Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia), Agus Martowardojo, won the Governor of the Year award for the East Asia-Pacific region. The winner of the award was announced by Global Markets, a newspaper that is part of Euromoney Institutional Investor.

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By the end of September 2017, Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves stood at USD $129.4 billion, slightly up from USD $128.8 billion in the preceding month, hence hitting a new all-time record. Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) said this increase was primarily attributed to foreign exchange receipts from tax revenues, government oil & gas export proceeds, the withdrawal of government foreign loans as well as the auction of Bank Indonesia foreign exchange bills.

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Bank Indonesia, the central bank of Indonesia, expects the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) to accelerate modestly in the remainder of the year after having recorded slightly disappointing 5.01 percent year-on-year (y/y) growth in both the first and second quarter of 2017.

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Indonesia's retail sales declined in July 2017 in line with the return to normal consumption patterns after the Ramadan and Idul Fitri celebrations ended. This is reflected in Bank Indonesia's retail sales index that showed a 3.3 percent decline year-on-year (y/y), after a 6.3 percent (y/y) increase in the preceding month. The decline in Indonesia's retail sales occurred in both food and non-food groups.

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Per 31 October 2017 payments on Indonesia's toll roads will be done entirely non-cash, using electronic money. This policy is part of authorities' ambition to create a cashless society and is expected to speed up the payment process at the toll roads, hence easing severe traffic congestion.

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Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) said the nation's foreign exchange reserves rose to USD $128.8 billion at the end of August 2017, higher than the USD $127.8 billion one month earlier. This growth was primarily attributed to foreign exchange receipts from tax revenues and government oil & gas export proceeds, as well as auctions of Bank Indonesia's foreign exchange bills.

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The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) is convinced that geopolitical troubles on the Korean peninsula will not impact negatively on the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate. Bank Indonesia Agus Martowardojo said he sees little impact (yet) but emphasized that the lender of last resort will continue to carefully monitor persistent tensions that have heightened after North Korea's latest nuclear test - its biggest-ever - on Sunday (03/09).

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It was not a total surprise. In fact, signs were on the wall. On Tuesday (22/08) the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) decided to cut its benchmark BI 7-day (Reverse) Repo Rate by 25 basis points to 4.50 percent at the August 2017 policy meeting. It was the first time since October 2016 that Bank Indonesia altered its key rate. Meanwhile, the deposit facility and lending facility rates were also cut by 25 basis points, to 3.75 percent and 5.25 percent, respectively.

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In a surprise move, the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) decided to lower its key interest rate (BI rate) by 25 basis points to 7.50 percent at the Board of Governor’s Meeting on Tuesday (17/02). The deposit facility rate (Fasbi) was also lowered by 25 basis points (to 5.50 percent), while the lending facility rate remained steady at 8.00 percent. In a press release the central bank stated that the current policy direction is estimated to moderate the country’s wide current account deficit further, while inflation remains under control.

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The trade balance of Indonesia improved in 2014. Over the whole year of 2014 Indonesia posted a USD $1.88 billion trade deficit, significantly better than the USD $4.08 billion deficit it recorded a year earlier. Today (02/02), Statistics Indonesia announced that Indonesia posted a USD $0.19 billion trade surplus in the last month of the year after having recorded a USD $0.42 billion trade deficit in the preceding month. The improved performance is mainly due to the country’s growing non-oil & gas surplus and narrowing oil & gas deficit.

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Foreign debt of Indonesia accelerated 11.8 percent year-on-year (y/y) to USD $294.4 billion in November 2014. This total debt of USD $294.4 billion in November 2014 consists of public foreign debt of USD $133.9 billion and private foreign debt of USD $160.5 billion. The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) stated that public foreign debt rose 8.6 percent (y/y) mainly on a rise in foreign holdings on government debt securities. Meanwhile, the growth pace of private foreign debt slightly eased.

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At the Indonesia Investment Summit 2015, organized in Jakarta on 15-16 January 2015, Bank Indonesia official Arief Mahmud presented several views of the central bank on the current Indonesian economy and the global and domestic challenges that it faces. As is widely known, Indonesia has been experiencing a process of slowing economic growth since 2011 due to sluggish global economic growth in combination with the rebalancing of the domestic economy. However, growth is expected to accelerate in 2015.

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In line with the performance of other Asian emerging currencies, Indonesia's rupiah exchange rate appreciated on Monday (12/01) as the fall in US wages (released late last week) caused speculation that the Federal Reserve will - for now - delay its plan to start raising US borrowing costs. Despite solid growing US non-farm payrolls in December 2014, US wages (average hourly earnings) fell the most in eight years. Indonesia’s rupiah appreciated 0.38 percent to IDR 12,599 per US dollar according to the Bloomberg Dollar Index.

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The central bank of Indonesia recently issued new regulations (Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 16/21/PBI/2014 and External Circular No. 16/24/DKEM) that aim to safeguard Indonesia’s financial fundamentals. These new regulations, which are an improvement of Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 16/20/PBI/2014 dated Oct. 28 2014, force Indonesian non-bank corporations to apply prudent fiscal management regarding foreign-denominated debt. Bank Indonesia felt these rules are needed as privately-held foreign debt rises continuously.

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The latest survey of Indonesia’s central bank indicates that consumer confidence fell in December 2014. The central bank’s Consumer Confidence Index fell 3.6 points to 116.5 in the last month of 2014 (a score above 100 signals optimism among consumers) due to the impact of higher subsidized fuel prices implemented in November 2014. This move triggered higher prices of products and services. The central bank’s Consumer Confidence Index is based on interviews with 4,600 households in 18 Indonesian cities.

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Indonesia’s inflation pace accelerated in December 2014, exceeding estimations of analysts and Indonesia’s central bank. December inflation, 2.46 percent (m/m) or 8.36 percent (y/y), accelerated due to the impact of higher subsidized fuel prices (introduced in November) and volatile food prices (fluctuating rice and chili prices at the year-end). Other factors that contributed to high inflation in 2014 were higher electricity tariffs for households and industries, the higher price of 12 kg LPG, and an airfare adjustment.

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Bank Indonesia (the central bank of Indonesia) and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) signed an agreement (the ASEAN Banking Integration Framework, abbreviated ABIF) with Malaysia’s central bank to support banking integration in the ASEAN region. The website of Bank Indonesia states that ABIF “provides an operating framework for ASEAN member states to implement principles and the integration process in the banking sector to support the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) [which is to be implemented later this year]”.

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A team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by David Cowen (advisor at the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department), visited several Indonesian cities in the first three weeks of December 2014 to conduct research on the economic fundamentals of Southeast Asia’s largest economy. This research included the study of recent macroeconomic developments as well as the formulation of prognosis scenarios for the short and middle term. The IMF team held discussions with the government, Bank Indonesia, private entrepreneurs and scholars.

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