Indonesia - Shore News Network

Train collision in Indonesia kills four, injures 42

ReutersJanuary 5, 20240

JAKARTA (Reuters) -A train collision in Indonesia’s West Java province on Friday killed four people and injured 42, local police said, as authorities investigated the cause of the crash. Video images from broadcasters MetroTV and Kompas TV showed passengers being helped out of train carriages, some of which had gone off the rails entirely. The four dead were crew members, said Ibrahim Tompo, a spokesperson for West Java province police, adding that a total of 478 passengers were aboard the trains. Two crew members had died after they were squeezed between carriages, Ibrahim said. “But one body still could not

Indonesia books smallest fiscal deficit in 12 years in 2023

ReutersJanuary 2, 20240

By Stefanno Sulaiman and Gayatri Suroyo JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia has reduced its 2023 budget deficit significantly to 347.6 trillion rupiah ($22.48 billion), equivalent to 1.65% of gross domestic product (GDP) based on unaudited figures, its finance minister said on Tuesday. As a percentage to GDP, the deficit was the slimmest since 2011. In nominal terms, it was significantly smaller than the government’s original 2023 fiscal deficit plan of 598.2 trillion rupiah, said Sri Mulyani Indrawati. Indonesia’s fiscal deficit in 2022 stood at 2.35% of GDP. The government plans to spend $216 billion this year, with a fiscal deficit oulook of

Bank Indonesia likely done with hikes, first cut in Q3 2024: Reuters poll

ReutersDecember 18, 20230

By Anant Chandak BENGALURU (Reuters) – Bank Indonesia will maintain its key policy rate for a second month on Thursday as inflation is within its target range and the rupiah has stabilised, showed a Reuters poll of economists who forecast the first cut to be in the third quarter of 2024. Inflation has stayed within the central bank’s 2023 2% to 4% target range for sixth consecutive months despite an uptick in inflation last month. The rupiah has gained nearly 2% since a surprise rate hike in October, easing pressure on imported prices. Governor Perry Warjiyo recently said the policy

Indonesia and Japan agree on removing more trade barriers

ReutersDecember 16, 20230

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia and Japan have agreed on the removal of more trade barriers, Indonesia’s foreign minister said on Saturday, after the two countries concluded negotiations on protocols to improve their bilateral economic agreements. Japan will allow greater access for Indonesian products including by removing tariffs on processed fishery items and the two countries will improve relations in the banking sector, Minister Retno Marsudi said in a statement. Both sides are looking for the amended Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) to be implemented by the first quarter of 2024, though it still needs to be formally signed and ratified

Indonesia relaxes tax rules on EV imports to attract investment

ReutersDecember 13, 20230

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia will grant automakers that plan to build electric vehicle plants tax incentives on their imports of completely built-up EVs until 2025, a new presidential regulation showed as Jakarta seeks to attract more investment. Under the new regulation signed on Dec. 8 and released this week, companies that have invested in EV plants, are planning to increase their EV investments, or planning to invest would be eligible for the incentives. The new rules will remove the import duties and the luxury-goods sales tax on the built-up vehicles brought into the country and gives incentives on taxes collected

Indonesia president suspects human trafficking behind increased Rohingya arrivals

ReutersDecember 8, 20230

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia strongly suspects human trafficking is behind a recent increase in arrivals of Rohingya Muslims on its territory, its president said on Friday, promising to work with international groups to deal with the issue. More than 1,200 Rohingya people, a persecuted minority from Myanmar, have landed ashore in Indonesia since November, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR) in Indonesia, prompting concern among local communities about the scale of the exodus this year. For years many Rohingya have embarked on perilous journeys on rickety boats, hoping to reach neighbouring Thailand and Bangladesh or further afield Malaysia

Indonesia says ‘positive’ signs from Myanmar’s warring camps on dialogue effort

ReutersNovember 24, 20230

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia said on Friday it had hosted a meeting of some of the key stakeholders in the conflict in military-ruled Myanmar at which each gave a “positive indication” about holding inclusive dialogue soon. The Nov. 20-22 meeting in Jakarta included pro-democracy groups, ethnic minority armies and a shadow National Unity Government (NUG), but the junta was not present, instead represented by “interlocutors”, Indonesia’s foreign ministry said in a statement, without elaborating. As outgoing chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia is pushing for dialogue between rival camps in a bloody crisis triggered by the military’s

Bank Indonesia to maintain key rate at 6.00% until at least mid-2024: Reuters poll

ReutersNovember 20, 20230

By Susobhan Sarkar BENGALURU (Reuters) – Bank Indonesia (BI) will leave its key policy rate unchanged at 6.00% on Thursday and likely keep it at that level until at least mid-2024, according to a Reuters poll of economists in which a few respondents still expected another rate hike. Despite inflation inching up to 2.56% in October from 2.28% in September, it was still within the central bank’s 2%-4% target range for the year, suggesting price pressures were less of a concern in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Indeed, Bank Indonesia’s surprise 25-basis-point rate hike on Oct. 19 was aimed at propping

Indonesia expected to maintain Oct trade surplus at $3 billion: Reuters poll

ReutersNovember 13, 20230

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s trade surplus is seen to narrow slightly in October to $3 billion from the previous month, as exports are still expected to weaken, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday. The poll, conducted with 19 economists between Nov. 8 and Nov. 14, showed trade surplus of $3 billion last month, compared with $3.42 billion in September. The largest economy in Southeast Asia has seen its trade surplus weakening in recent months due to falling commodity prices and a global economic slowdown that hurts demand. Indonesia is the world’s major exporter of top commodities such as thermal coal

Warga Negara Indonesia Diekstradisi Dari Singapura Untuk Menghadapi Tuntutan Karena Melakukan Skema Ponzi Yang Menargetkan Komunitas Indonesia Dan Indo-Amerika

Indira PatelNovember 11, 20230

Di pengadilan federal di Brooklyn, Dakwaan 16 dakwaan dan 16 dakwaan pengganti telah dibuka segelnyadalam penuntutan warga negara Indonesia bernama Francius Marganda yang melakukan penipuan sekuritas, penipuan kawat, pencucian uang dan tuduhan konspirasi terkait karena melakukan skema Ponzi dari bulan Mei 2019 hingga Mei 2021 yang menargetkan ratusan korban investor yang menetap di lebih dari 12 negara bagian termasuk New York dan di Indonesia. Marganda diekstradisi ke Distrik Timur New York dari Signapore kemarin dan akan diadili pada 13 November 2023 di hadapan Hakim Ketua Amerika Serikat Lois Bloom. Breon Peace, Pengacara Amerika Serikat untuk Distrik Timur New York; James

Exclusive-TikTok, YouTube, Meta eye Indonesia e-commerce licenses- sources

ReutersOctober 26, 20230

By Stanley Widianto and Fanny Potkin JAKARTA – TikTok and YouTube are considering joining Meta in applying for e-commerce licenses in Indonesia after Southeast Asia’s largest economy banned online shopping on social media platforms, people familiar with the discussions said. Indonesia’s trade ministry banned e-commerce transactions on social media a month ago, saying it sought to protect small and midsize offline merchants and marketplaces, and to ensure users’ data was protected. With a population of more than 270 million, Indonesia generated nearly $52 billion in e-commerce transactions last year, according to data from consultancy Momentum Works. The law was a

Indonesia central bank unexpectedly raises rates amid falling rupiah

ReutersOctober 19, 20230

By Gayatri Suroyo and Stefanno Sulaiman JAKARTA (Reuters) – Bank Indonesia unexpectedly raised interest rates on Thursday to arrest the rupiah’s decline amid U.S. monetary tightening and rising geopolitical risks, with economists seeing possible further hikes should the currency’s weakness persist. The central bank hiked the benchmark 7-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 6.00%, its second hike this year and its seventh since starting its tightening cycle in 2022. Its two other main rates were also hiked. The benchmark is now at its highest level since June 2019. All economists polled by Reuters had expected the bank

China’s Xi wants to expand cooperation with Indonesia in several key markets

ReutersOctober 17, 20230

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is willing to expand and strengthen cooperation with Indonesia in emerging industries such as the digital economy, photovoltaics and new energy vehicles, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday. China is also willing to boost imports of Indonesia’s agricultural and fishery products, Xi said in a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum, according to state media China Central Television. Xi said the two sides should deepen the integration of industrial chains and supply chains, and jointly promote the construction of a “regional comprehensive economic corridor.” In October, Widodo

Bank Indonesia to stay put till year-end, cut in Q2 2024: Reuters poll

ReutersOctober 16, 20230

By Veronica Dudei Maia Khongwir BENGALURU (Reuters) – Bank Indonesia (BI) will follow its regional peers and leave its interest rate unchanged on Oct. 19, staying on the sidelines for longer than previously expected, a Reuters poll found. With inflation at a 19-month low of 2.28% in September, firmly within BI’s 2-4% target range, all 36 economists in the Oct. 10-16 Reuters poll said the central bank would leave its seven-day reverse repurchase rate at 5.75% on Thursday for the ninth consecutive meeting. However, a weakening rupiah – down around 7.5% from a 2023 high of 14,560 per dollar hit

Indonesia court to rule on president, VP candidates’ minimum age

ReutersOctober 10, 20230

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s Constitutional Court will next week rule on a petition seeking to lower the minimum age of presidential and vice presidential candidates in elections, which could pave the way for President Joko Widodo’s eldest son to run in 2024. The world’s third-biggest democracy is set to vote in simultaneous presidential and legislative elections in February next year. The court will decide on the judicial review requests on Oct. 16, its spokesperson said on Tuesday. The president’s son and mayor of Surakarta city Gibran Rakabuming Raka has not announced any intention to run, but politicians supporting the campaign

Indonesia to tighten customs checks on some consumer goods after influx of imports

ReutersOctober 6, 20230

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia plans to tighten customs monitoring for some imported goods, including cosmetics, shoes, clothes, toys and electronics, the president’s office said on Friday, the country’s latest measure to curb imports. The planned regulation follows complaints from business associations of an influx of imported goods that they say has disrupted local markets, the office said in a statement. Currently, the distribution of these imported goods are classified as “post-border”, meaning it is monitored by related ministries. The government will assign such imports to be monitored on “border” by customs authorities, mandating importers to obtain a permit and a surveyor

Bank Indonesia official signals steady rates as authorities try to calm markets

ReutersOctober 4, 20230

By Stefanno Sulaiman JAKARTA (Reuters) – Bank Indonesia could maintain price stability with past rate hikes, a deputy governor said on Wednesday, signalling policy rates will be held steady again later this month as authorities try to shore up confidence in currency and bond markets. The comments by Bank Indonesia (BI)’s Destry Damayanti, the second most senior official at the central bank and a member of its rate-setting board, came as the bank bought government bonds in an effort to stem a selloff in the debt market and rupiah currency. It was the first bond-buying operation by the BI since

Indonesia central bank intervenes to defend rupiah, open to buying bonds

ReutersOctober 3, 20230

By Stefanno Sulaiman and Gayatri Suroyo JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s central bank has intervened in the foreign exchange market to manage the supply and demand of U.S. dollars amid market turbulence that has sent the rupiah to its weakest since January, an official told Reuters on Tuesday. Edi Susianto, Bank Indonesia’s head of monetary management, also said the rise in bond yields and capital outflows from the country remained “manageable”, but the central bank was open to the possibility of buying bonds to manage yields. “We remain present at the market to ensure a balance in FX supply and demand

Indonesia central bank intervenes to balance FX supply-demand, build market confidence-official

ReutersOctober 3, 20230

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s central bank kept a presence in the foreign exchange market to maintain a supply-demand balance and build market confidence, an official said on Tuesday, using a phrase the bank typically uses to describe currency intervention. The rupiah’s depreciation was due to sentiment against risky assets related to U.S. monetary policy, Edi Susianto, Bank Indonesia’s head of monetary management, told Reuters. The rupiah hit its lowest level since Jan. 6 of 15,610 a dollar earlier on Tuesday. (Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Writing by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Martin Petty)

Indonesia parliament passes Jokowi’s $216 billion 2024 budget

ReutersSeptember 20, 20230

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s parliament on Thursday passed President Joko Widodo’s 3,325.1 trillion rupiah ($216.06 billion) budget for 2024, his final year in office, with a fiscal deficit of 2.29% of gross domestic product. The budget assumes economic growth of 5.2%, which is slightly higher than 2023’s outlook of 5.1% and a state revenue target of 2,802.3 trillion rupiah. ($1 = 15,390.0000 rupiah) (Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by Martin Petty)

Indonesia asks China’s Geely to help build homegrown EV by 2026

ReutersSeptember 14, 20230

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia has asked Chinese carmaker Geely Automotive Holdings to help it build a homegrown electric car by 2025 or 2026, a senior minister said on Tuesday, adding that the automaker has agreed. Geely did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. “I have offered Geely, do you want to make cars in Indonesia, but be an Indonesian brand and do the research in Indonesia? They said yes,” Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, who oversees regulations on natural resources and investment, told a seminar. The offer would be packaged with Indonesia supplying nickel ore to produce electric vehicle

Indonesia proposes critical minerals trade deal with US

ReutersSeptember 7, 20230

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia has asked the United States to begin talks on a trade deal for critical minerals so that exports from the Southeast Asian country can be covered under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, an Indonesian ministry said on Thursday. The request was made when Indonesian President Joko Widodo met with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on the sidelines of meetings hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta on Wednesday. Under guidelines for the U.S. law issued in March, Washington has required that a certain amount of critical minerals in electric vehicle (EV) batteries

PepsiCo returns to Indonesia, breaks ground for snack factory

ReutersAugust 30, 20230

By Stefanno Sulaiman CIKARANG, Indonesia (Reuters) – U.S. food and beverage maker PepsiCo began building a snack factory in Indonesia’s West Java on Wednesday, marking its return to Southeast Asia’s largest economy after splitting with a local partner two years ago. The factory, part of PepsiCo’s $200 million commitment to invest in Indonesia over a 10-year period, is expected to start producing snacks by 2025. PepsiCo’s affiliate Fritolay Netherlands Holding B.V. and Indofood CBP, a unit of Indonesia’s largest food company Indofood Group, ended a 30-year joint venture in 2021 without providing any reason, when Indofood bought PepsiCo’s minority stake.

Indonesia central bank believes new certificates will offer ‘very attractive’ yields

ReutersAugust 28, 20230

By Stefanno Sulaiman JAKARTA (Reuters) – New certificates being introduced by Bank Indonesia for sale next month are expected to offer “very attractive” yields for foreign investors, an official said on Monday, generating inflows to help keep liquidity supportive for economic growth. Last week, the central bank announced that it would hold twice weekly auctions of Bank Indonesia Rupiah Securities (SRBI), using BI’s holdings of government bonds as underlying assets, from Sept 15. The instrument was intended to attract capital inflows as well as mop-up excess rupiah liquidity in the domestic financial market, and provide some stability for the rupiah

Marketmind: Spotlight falls on South Korea, Indonesia rate calls

ReutersAugust 23, 20230

By Jamie McGeever (Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever, financial markets columnist. Interest rate decisions and policy guidance from South Korea and Indonesia take center stage in Asia on Thursday, as investors also navigate the strong cross currents from global equity and bond markets the day before. World stocks and Wall Street jumped on Wednesday, lifted by optimism over Nvidia’s earnings, and bond yields tumbled after dismal purchasing managers index reports from Europe cast doubt over central banks’ willingness to raise rates any further. The tech-led rally on Wall Street delivered the