According to the World Bank the economy of Indonesia will continue to accelerate in 2017 supported by strengthening global economic growth, overall rising commodity prices (meaning investment and export performance should improve), the nation's low current account deficit, low inflation, and strong fundamentals of the Indonesian economy. These circumstances should boost Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 5.2 percent year-on-year (y/y) in 2017 (from 5.0 percent in the preceding year).

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In line with expectations, Indonesia's inflation rate accelerated in February 2017, particularly due to higher prices in the category "housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel". On Tuesday (01/03) Statistics Indonesia announced that Indonesia's annual headline inflation rose to 3.83 percent (y/y), up from 3.49 percent (y/y) in the preceding month. On a monthly basis, Indonesian inflation was recorded at 0.23 percent (m/m), the highest monthly February inflation figure since 2014.

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Bank Indonesia, the central bank of Indonesia, is concerned that the ongoing flooding that occurs in several regions of the country will give rise to inflationary pressures as some distribution channels are blocked. Besides logistics issues, severe rainfall can disturb harvests hence impacting negatively on the supply-side. In several parts of Indonesia, including the capital city of Jakarta and the northern part of Central Java, there are reports of major floods.

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On 5 February 2017, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website over the last seven days. Most of the topics involve political, social and economy-related topics such the Jakarta gubernatorial election, Indonesia's GDP growth, inflation, manufacturing activity, the investment climate, palm oil, coal, and much more.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is optimistic about economic growth of Indonesia in the foreseeable future. In its latest report the Washington-based institution says Indonesia's solid economic policies and increased household consumption support strong growth. The stronger rupiah and low inflation have caused people's purchasing power to strengthen. This is a major positive boost for the economy as household consumption accounts for more than 55 percent of total economic growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

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We already expected Indonesia's inflation rate would be high in January 2017 due to higher food prices as well as higher administered prices (electricity tariffs, fuel prices and vehicle registration fees). However, inflation realization in the first month of 2017 exceeded our expectations. Indonesia's statistics bureau (BPS) announced around noon on Tuesday (01/02) that the nation's monthly inflation accelerated to 0.97 percent (m/m) in January 2017, while annual (headline) inflation rose to 3.49 percent (y/y).

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Indonesia's consumer price index is expected to rise in January 2017 amid higher food prices and higher government administered prices. Indonesian inflation in the first month of 2017 is estimated in the range of 0.60 - 0.70 percent month-on-month (m/m). Accelerating inflation in Southeast Asia's largest economy would imply that Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) has limited room to ease its monetary policy (by cutting the benchmark interest rate).

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Eric Sugandi, Chief Economist at SKHA Institute for Global Competitiveness (SIGC), believes household consumption will remain the main engine of economic growth in Indonesia in 2017, followed by the other engines, namely direct investment and government spending. Regarding household consumption, Sugandi says the middle class contributes significantly to economic growth of Southeast Asia's largest economy due to their robust consumption. Traditionally, household consumption accounts for between 55 and 58 percent of Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP).

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Indonesia's Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS) expects Indonesian inflation to reach 4.7 percent year-on-year (y/y) in full-year 2017, just within the central bank's 3 - 5 percent (y/y) inflation target. Didiek Madiyono, Executive Director of the LPS, said administered price adjustments will be the primary reason why the inflation rate of Indonesia will accelerate from 3.0 percent (y/y) in 2016 to 4.7 percent (y/y) in 2017. Administered prices are those prices that are set by the government. Usually when the government changes its subsidy policies, it needs to adjust certain prices.

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Most analysts and government officials see Indonesian inflation accelerating this year after a mild 2016 in which Indonesia's consumer price index rose by 3.02 percent year-on-year (y/y) only. Indonesian Chief Economics Minister Darmin Nasution said low inflation in 2016 was primarily caused by low administered price growth (in a couple of months administered prices in fact fell last year) as well as controlled food prices. He added, however, that food prices have been rather volatile and are expected to remain volatile in 2017.

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Throughout the month of May, the level of volatility of Indonesia's main stock index (IHSG) has been remarkable and interesting. At the start of the month we were shocked by Standard & Poor's downgrade of Indonesia's credit rating outlook as well as Moody's warning to take similar measures as Indonesia had been slow to deal with its subsidized fuel policy. These issues were able to drag the index down. Moreover, the threat of higher inflation triggers concerns that the index would show its traditional fall in the month of May.

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Although Indonesia’s government stresses the need to relieve pressure on the state budget (by raising the price of subsidized fuel next month), it plans to allocate an additional IDR 16.1 trillion (USD $1.65 billion) to this year’s fuel subsidy budget. The additional allocation, which covers fuel, LPG and vegetable fuels, will raise government expenditure on fuel subsidies to IDR 209.9 trillion (USD $21.50 billion) from the IDR 193.8 trillion drafted in the original 2013 state budget (APBN 2013). Total energy subsidies will grow to IDR 309.9 trillion this year.

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Last week, Indonesia's main stock index (IHSG) moved remarkably well. The index managed to set a new record high at 5145.68 points on Friday (17/05/13) as it was pushed up by its strongest pillar of support, the consumer sector. Indonesia's consumer sector rose as much as 8.23 percent last week, while the largest obstacle to growth was the country's mining sector, which experienced a correction of 3.31 percent. What are the underlying reasons of last week's gain towards yet another record high? And is it sustainable?

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Positive American and European stock indices on Tuesday (14/05/13) made a good impact on Asian stock indices on Wednesday (15/05/13), including Indonesia's main index (IHSG) which is heading towards the 5,100 points line. Although many foreign investors were eager to sell their Indonesian assets, support from other Asian stock indices kept the IHSG within the green zone. At the end of the trading day, it stood at 5,089.88 points, a 0.16 percent rise.

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One of the sectors that showed exceptional growth in 2012 was Indonesia's property market. On average, net profit of companies engaged in Indonesia's property sector grew 68 percent during the full year. Of the 45 property companies that are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), 26 posted net profit growth that exceeded 50 percent. But the success story did not end there. In the first quarter of 2013, the property sectoral index of the IDX continued its fast pace by rising over 41 percent.

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The release of Indonesia's April deflation figure (0.10%) and orderly May Day demonstrations provided a good environment for investors to continue purchasing Indonesian stocks (despite uncertainty about Indonesia's subsidized fuel policy. Moreover, positive Asian stock indices - in combination with positive European openings on Wednesday - made the Indonesia Stock Index (IHSG) rise to a new record level of 5,060.92 points on Wednesday (01/05/13), a 0.53 percent gain.

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Even though American and European stock indices were positive on Monday (in fact S&P 500 set a new record) it did not impact directly on the performance of Indonesia's main stock index (IHSG) on Tuesday (30/04/13). In the first session, the IHSG's peak at 5,014 points was only short-lived and quickly lowered again. In the second session, however, the index started to show more solid growth (despite the ongoing uncertainty about Indonesia's subsidized fuel price) as Asian stock markets were mostly up.

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After two consecutive days of decline, the Jakarta Composite index (IHSG) had no intention to continue its fall. Indonesia's main index was able to rise 0.43 percent to 4,999.75 points on Monday 29 April 2013. Stocks that had been weakening in recent days were popular among investors. Moreover, both Asian stock indices and foreign net purchases of Indonesian stocks supported Indonesia's index, although it fell short of reaching the psychological boundary of 5,000 points.

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One piece of evidence of international confidence in the Indonesian economy is the steady upgrades in the country's credit ratings by international financial services companies such as Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings and Moody's. In late 2011, Fitch Ratings was the first to reinstate Indonesia's investment grade status after a 14-year hiatus. In January 2012, Moody’s followed suit citing the country’s resilient economy. S&P may follow soon, depending on the fuel price hike issue.

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Last week Indonesia's main stock index (IHSG) was mixed with a weakening trend. The index lost 19.9 points, equivalent to 0.40 percent of its value. During the last month, the index consolidated within the range of 4,800 and 5,030 points. Foreign funds continued to pour in and trade volume remained high although below average trade in the last three weeks. In fact, our technical indicators are showing signs that Indonesia's main stock index has become saturated.

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