Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.
Latest Reports Politics
On Thursday 04 April 2024 Indonesia Investments released the March edition of its monthly report. The report focuses on a number of key economic, political and social developments that were felt by Indonesia in the month of March 2024.
On Tuesday 5 March 2024 Indonesia Investments released the February 2024 edition of its monthly report. The report focuses on the most important economic, political and social developments in Indonesia in the month of February 2024.
Based on the quick count results, presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto will win the 2024 presidential election by a comfortable margin. Not only does he enjoy around 57-59 percent of the national votes, but he also seems to control at least 20 percent of the votes in over 20 provinces. This would mean that a second round is not even necessary. Still, we have to wait for the official result that is scheduled to be released on 20 March 2024.
Today -14 February 2024- a total of 204.8 million Indonesian voters are allowed to visit the ballot boxes to vote for their preferred presidential candidate and political party for the 2024-2029 period. Voting takes place between 07:00 am and 13:00 pm (local time).
On Sunday (04.02.2024) Indonesia Investments released the January 2024 edition of its monthly report. The report offers analyses of various economic, political and social topics that are relevant in the present.
In this month’s update, we are only focusing on the latest developments in terms of the upcoming 2024 legislative and presidential elections (that are scheduled for 14 February 2024). And so, for a wider analysis and background of these elections, we refer the reader to our articles published in earlier reports.
On Friday 5 January 2024 Indonesia Investments released the December 2023 edition of its monthly report. The report informs readers on the latest -and in our opinion most relevant- economic, political and social developments in Indonesia.
In each November edition of our monthly report we cover the new minimum wages of Indonesia (that will kick in at the start of the next year). The main reason is that provincial leaders need to announce the level of minimum wage growth before the end of November. This year, the deadline was set on 21 November for the provincial minimum wages (and 30 November for minimum wages in the districts and cities).
On Tuesday 5 December 2023 Indonesia Investments released the November 2023 edition of its monthly report. The report informs readers on the latest - and in our opinion most relevant - economic, political and social developments in Indonesia.
On Tuesday 11 July 2023, Indonesia’s House of Representatives (or DPR) passed the Omnibus Health bill into law. The only two political parties (both opposition parties) that voted against this bill were the Democratic Party (PD) and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). Main reasons behind their rejection involved the rushed deliberation, and the removal of mandatory government spending on the health sector.
Latest Columns Politics
At the inauguration of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura)'s new central leadership board on Wednesday (22/02), Indonesian President Joko Widodo said "Indonesian democracy has recently gone over the top". He referred to the various controversial cases and demonstrations that have emerged in recent months involving hate speech related to race, religion, ethnicity and class.
It is not a coincidence that ethnic, religious and social tensions have risen in Indonesia ahead of Jakarta's gubernatorial election on 15 February 2017. Indonesian Police is currently making over hours as various people, including political and religious leaders, have been reported to police for blasphemy or hate speech. One of the people that is being trialed is incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki Purnama Tjahja (Ahok), who is one of the three men who compete to become the capital's next governor.
On Friday (04/11) a massive demonstration is scheduled to be staged in Jakarta. In this protest rally thousands of people are expected to gather to ventilate their disapproval of incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki Cahaya Purnama (better known as Ahok). The rally is organized by a coalition of Islamic groups including hard-line group Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) which has often used violence to achieve their targets. The Muslim groups accuse Ahok of blasphemy by misquoting Quranic verses during a speech in Kepulauan Seribu, off the coast of Jakarta, in early October.
After two years in office, the time is ripe now to take a look at the performance and accomplishments of the government under the leadership of Joko Widodo, often called Jokowi. Indonesia's seventh president was a bit unlucky. In the first year of his rule, commodity prices were at multi-year lows (curbing Indonesia's foreign exchange earnings) amid sluggish global economic growth, while capital outflows from Indonesia occurred on the back of monetary tightening in the USA, sending the rupiah to a 17-year low in September 2015.
On Friday (14/10) Indonesian President Joko Widodo appointed Ignasius Jonan as Indonesia's new Energy and Mineral Resources Minister. Jonan is the nation's former Transportation Minister who was replaced by Budi Karya Sumadi in a cabinet reshuffle in late July 2016. Meanwhile, the position of Energy and Mineral Resources Minister had been empty (although for the time being filled by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan) after the dismissal of Arcandra Tahar in mid-August 2016.
Although Indonesia’s economic growth slowed further in 2014, there is optimism that growth will accelerate in 2015 despite sluggish global economic conditions (curbing Indonesia’s export performance) and Bank Indonesia’s relatively high interest rate environment. Indonesia’s central bank has raised its BI rate several times over the past one and a half years in an effort to combat high inflation (caused by fuel price hikes), curb capital outflows ahead of US monetary tightening, limit the current account deficit and support the rupiah.
By the mid-1960s, politics and the economy of Indonesia had turned into disaster. After Independence in 1945 (and the cessation of hostilities with the Dutch in 1949), the young nation was plagued by hostile internal politics in which several political forces - consisting of the army, nationalists, Muslims, and communists - opposed each other. For over a decade, Sukarno, Indonesia’s first president, had reasonable success in keeping these forces in check by the force of his own personality. However, by the mid-1960s his failure became evident.
Indonesian stocks and the rupiah have rebounded on Friday due to several internal and external factors. During the first trading session on Friday (17/10), the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (Jakarta Composite Index, or IHSG) surged 0.94 percent to 4,998.14 points. Meanwhile, based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate had appreciated 0.26 percent to IDR 12,228 per US dollar by 12:30 pm local Jakarta time. Why do Indonesian stocks and the rupiah perform well on Friday?
Global credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service stated that it maintains a stable outlook for Indonesia’s sovereign and corporate debt rating in the next quarters due to the country’s healthy credit fundamentals, solid macroeconomy, and reduced political tensions. Moody’s believes that Indonesia’s fundamentals are strong enough to offset the negative impact of external pressures such as looming higher US interest rates and slowing economic growth in China. Moody’s had raised Indonesia’s sovereign debt rating to investment grade in late 2011.
Amid political uncertainty and a looming increase in US interest rates, Indonesian stocks and the rupiah exchange rate weakened considerably in the past week. Market participants are increasingly concerned about the situation in Indonesia’s parliament where a majority of political parties - named the Merah-Putih coalition (led by defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto) - is expected to undermine president-elect Joko Widodo’s reform programs as well as the democratic foundations of the country.
