The Indonesian government revised its 2015 economic growth target. Sofyan Djalil, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, stated on Friday (03/07) that the government’s previous target was unrealistically high at 5.8 percent (y/y) given the sluggish international and domestic economic context. The government revised down the GDP growth target of 2015 to 5.2 percent (y/y). Djalil said that the global economy is forecast to grow 2.9 percent (y/y) in 2015 from an earlier estimate of 3.5 percent (y/y).

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Indonesia’s rapidly growing population in combination with robust economic growth and underinvestment in infrastructure development has resulted in the country’s current lack of quality and quantity of infrastructure. This situation causes a steep increase in logistics costs and blocks efforts to develop and realize national and regional economic potentials (an efficient logistics system is crucial for socioeconomic development of Indonesia). However, government spending on infrastructure development is set to start soon.

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It is estimated that about 20 million Indonesians will travel back to their hometowns during the Idul Fitri (also known as Lebaran) celebrations that mark the end of the Ramadan (the Islamic holy fasting month) next month. This homeward bound traveling is locally known as mudik. The annual mudik tradition involves millions of Indonesians taking time off from work, leaving their urban residences and travel back to their places of birth in the rural areas for a few days. During these days cities become empty.

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Indonesian Transportation Minister Ignatius Jonan inaugurated the new coal terminal, owned by state-controlled coal miner Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (Bukit Asam), in Tarahan (South Sumatra) on Wednesday (10/06). The Tarahan coal terminal, which required USD $152 million in investment, has now become Indonesia’s largest commercial terminal having the ability to accommodate ships with a maximum capacity of 210,000 dead-weight tonnage (DWT). This maximum capacity of the terminal is scheduled to be enlarged to 240,000 DWT.

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Several international institutions revised down their outlook for economic growth of Indonesia in 2015 as foreign investors have been somewhat disappointed with the performance of the new Indonesian government, while the global economic picture remains far from rosy. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse and Nomura Holdings have all slashed Indonesia’s economic growth forecast this year to below the five percent (year-on-year) mark. Last year Indonesia’s economic growth touched a five-year low of 5.02 percent (y/y).

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Indonesia is set to co-found a new cross-border Islamic (sharia-compliant) infrastructure bank together with Turkey and Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB), a multilateral lender. Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said that Indonesia will contribute more than USD $300 million as start-up capital for the establishment of the new bank, named Islamic Investment Infrastructure Bank (IIIB), which aims to boost infrastructure development in various countries.

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The New Cities Summit 2015 will be held between 9 and 11 June at Ciputra Artpreneur in South Jakarta. The summit, themed “Seizing the Urban Moment: Cities at the Heart of Growth and Development,” will gather around 800 urban planners, urban leaders, artists, businessmen and innovators from around the world in Indonesia’s capital city. This year’s summit is the fourth edition. Previous editions were held in Paris, Sao Paulo and Dallas. The main theme of these summits is to discuss the future of cities.

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Today, Indonesian President Joko Widodo will lay the first stone for the groundbreaking ceremony of the 2,700 km Trans-Sumatra toll road project, linking Lampung to Aceh on the resource-rich island of Sumatra (Indonesia’s second-largest island in terms of geographic size). The toll road, which is one of the key priority infrastructure projects for the Indonesian government, is estimated to require a total of IDR 300 trillion (USD $23.1 billion) of investment. Ten years after parts of the toll road were first tendered, construction can finally commence.

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The benchmark stock index of Indonesia (Jakarta Composite Index, abbreviated IHSG) is again plagued by selling pressures on Wednesday’s trading day (29/04). After today’s first trading session the index was down 2.58 percent to 5,106.73 points. The decline is caused by the persistence of the negative sentiments that have been felt over the past couple of days (explained below) coupled with a discrepancy in economic growth forecasts between the Indonesian government and the country’s central bank (Bank Indonesia).

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Most Southeast Asian stock markets declined ahead of the two-day policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve which started today (28/04). Indonesia’s benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG) managed to limit losses. After the 3.49 percent fall yesterday, the IHSG was down 1 percent after the first trading session today. However, near the closure of the market the index improved markedly resulting in a small loss of 0.06 percent only. Due to severe losses over the past couple of trading sessions, some oversold blue chip shares became attractive.

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One of the conclusions of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting (MGM) that was conducted on 22 and 23 February 2014 in Sydney, Australia, was the group's shared view that the global economy is displaying signs of improvement. Indications of global economic improvement are reflected by strengthening growth in the USA, United Kingdom and Japan. In the meeting Indonesia was represented by Finance Minister Chatib Basri and Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo.

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Total realized investments in the context of the government's Masterplan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI) will reach IDR 628.9 trillion (USD $51.6 billion) in 2014. The MP3EI was unveiled by the Indonesian government in May 2011 to accelerate its ambitious goal of becoming one of the world's largest economies by 2025. This masterplan particularly focuses on (much-needed) infrastructure development by cooperating with the private sector (for example through public-private partnerships).

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Indonesia's cement sales in January 2014 declined 1 percent to 4.65 million metric tons from the same month in 2013 (4.68 million metric tons). The decline was caused by severe floods brought about by high rainfall amid a peak in Indonesia's rainy season. The floods resulted in disrupted distribution networks, therefore blocking cement shipments to retailers. Moreover, these weather conditions caused the postponement of several construction activities, thus reducing demand for cement.

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The government of Indonesia - through its Ministry of National Development Planning (known as Bappenas) - designed three funding scenarios for Indonesia's infrastructure development in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN 2015-2019). The lack of appropriate infrastructure is one of the bottlenecks to Indonesia's development. The scenarios involve the amount of funds and other requirements for infrastructure investment. The three scenarios are divided into a 'full scenario', a 'partial scenario' and a 'baseline scenario'.

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Mitsui & Co, one of the largest trading companies in Japan, believes that Indonesia is one of the most prospective investment destinations for the middle and longer term. After Brasil and Chile, Indonesia is currently the third-largest investment market for Mitsui & Co, which is part of the Mitsui Group. The latter has stakes in various sectors including energy, food, logistics and finance. The CEO of Mitsui & Co, Masami Iijima, stated that Indonesia is lucrative due to its large and young population as well as its rapidly expanding middle class.

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On Tuesday (21/01), the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) announced that investments in Indonesia grew 27 percent to IDR 398.6 trillion (USD $33 billion) in 2013, thus exceeding the target that was set at the start of the year (IDR 390 trillion). This result, which is a new record high for Southeast Asia's largest economy, was supported by a 39 percent increase in domestic direct investment (IDR 128.2 trillion) and a 22 percent increase in foreign direct investment (IDR 272.6 trillion).

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On Friday 10 January 2014, the government of Indonesia opened Halim Airport for scheduled commercial flights. Previously, the only airport that served these types of flights around Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta and surrounding towns was the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (Soetta), located in Cengkareng (Banten). However, the amount of daily passengers at Soetta has exceeded its capacity. Based on data from Airports Council International, released in 2013, Soetta is the world's tenth busiest airport.

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Indonesian retail sales surged 14 percent in November 2013 from one year earlier (the highest growth rate since July 2013). On a month-to-month basis, Indonesia's retail sales increased 1.5 percent from October 2013. These findings were the result of a survey conducted by the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia), which surveyed 650 retailers in 10 Indonesian cities. The bank's survey also indicated that Indonesian retailers may increase prices of their products in 2014 in order to compensate for the depreciating rupiah exchange rate.

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The regional government of Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city after the capital city of Jakarta, is planning to tender two separate infrastructure projects - open to both foreign and domestic investors - at the start of December 2013. The two projects involve the construction of the city's monorail, valued at IDR 6.42 trillion (USD $558.3 million), and the construction of a tramline, valued at IDR 2.41 trillion (USD $209.6 million). When finished, the two projects are expected to reduce traffic congestion in Surabaya, East Java's economic center.

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One of the major problems which is blocking Indonesia's economic growth is the country's infrastructure. The lack of quality and quantity of Indonesia's infrastructure causes logistics costs to rise steeply and thus makes investors (particularly the foreign ones) hesitant to invest as high logistics costs imply a weakening of the country's competitiveness. The problem of Indonesia's infrastructure is both 'hard' infrastructure (roads, airports and electricity supply) and 'soft' infrastructure (social welfare and health care).

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