Indonesia Economy Forum

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Indonesia's inflation rate to reach 4.5 percent in 2017
Sabtu, 4 Februari 2017 16:59 WIB - 0 Views

Scenery of Jakarta from above. Indonesian business society predicted economy growth in 2017 between 5.0-5.2 percent. (ANTARA FOTO/Fakhri Hermansyah)

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that the inflation rate in Indonesia could reach 4.5 percent this year owing to an electricity subsidy cut and recovery in commodity prices.

In a statement quoted by Antara here on Saturday, the IMF concluded that despite a hike in inflation, other economic indicators in Indonesia showed an improvement, driven by a combination of prudent macroeconomic policies and sustainable structural reforms.

"The near-term outlook is still good. The economy is expected to grow moderately at 5.1 percent in 2017, while the rate of inflation will increase to around 4.5 percent by the end of 2017," it said.

Indonesias economic growth in 2017 would be supported by a stage-wise increase in private investment following improving commodity prices and a low interest rate and a recovery in overseas demand for goods due to improvements in global trade conditions.

IMF has forecast that Indonesia's current account, which is another economic indicator that records the transactions of goods and services between Indonesian and foreign citizens, will suffer a deficit of two percent of the gross domestic product, which is still within a tolerable range set by the Indonesian authorities.

In the statement, IMF concluded that Indonesia was able to manage macroeconomic stability and adjust to the latest global economic dynamics.

"Prudent policies and structural reforms have contributed in the midst of the global economic slowdown. Indonesias economy slowed down a bit, but it remains strong," IMF said.

On a separate occasion, economist from the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) Bhima Yudhistira remarked that inflation pressure this year would come from administered prices.

He pointed out that significant inflation pressure could soon arise from the increasing global crude oil prices that could lead to a hike in the domestic fuel oil prices.

"Fuel oil price hike can be very sensitive to inflation. In the first semester of 2017, the pressure to increase the price of fuel oils was quite strong," he noted.

INDEF has forecast that the inflation this year will be between four and 4.25 percent. "Our prediction has not yet been as extreme as that of IMF, which is up to 4.5 percent," he stated.

Senior economist from PT Bank Mandiri Tbk, Andry Asmoro, earlier said Bank Mandiri's economic team had forecast that inflation this year will be at around 4.2 percent, although the inflation hike in January has been above expectation.

Asmoro, however, claimed that inflation could jump higher if the government and Bank Indonesia were late in anticipating pressures from volatile food prices to compensate for the increasing administered prices.

Bank Indonesia Governor, Agus Martowadojo, noted in his statement that the central bank will continue to maintain stability of the countrys economic and financial systems by optimizing domestic economic recovery in the midst of uncertainty in the global financial market.

"Bank Indonesia hails the result of the assessment conducted by the IMF on Indonesia's economy in 2016 in which it lauded the country's success in maintaining its macroeconomic stability and adjusting to external changes," he added.
Editor: Ade Marboen

COPYRIGHT © ANTARA 2017

 

[Svantana]

 

[Nike]

Bank Indonesia improves MSME` access to financial services
Sabtu, 4 Februari 2017 06:19 WIB | 876 Views

Bank Indonesia (BI). (ANTARA)

Manado (ANTARA News) - Bank Indonesia plans to increase local micro, small and medium enterprises access to the financial services industry.

"One of the efforts aimed at encouraging the development of MSMEs is to increase their capacity, and improve their access to financial services," Head of BI Office in North Sulawesi Province, Soekowardojo, said here on Friday.

If MSMEs have access to financial services, they will continue to grow, he stressed.

"In principle, financial services are inseparable from the business world. However, (banks) must exercise caution in channeling credits," he underlined.

He assured that he will always encourage banks to increase the amount of loans channeled to the real sector.

In addition, the central bank will also help MSMEs find regional and international markets, minimize information disparities and increase coordination and cooperation with stakeholders, he observed.

"As we all know, MSME is one of the sectors that can encourage the national economy. In total, MSMEs make up 99.9 percent of the total business units. They contribute up to 57 percent of the gross domestic product," he explained.

The MSMEs can also become a highly competitive sector that can even resist foreign and domestic upheavals, he pointed out.

The MSMEs also play a bigger role in creating jobs, and currently account for 97.2 percent of the total jobs.

(Reported by Nancy Lynda Tigauw/INE/KR-BSR/B003)

 

[Svantana]

RAJA AMPAT

Located off the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia's West Papua province, Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings, is an archipelago comprising over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals surrounding the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo, and the smaller island of Kofiau. The Raja Ampat archipelago is the part of Coral Triangle which contains the richest marine biodiversity on earth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Ampat_Islands

 

[Svantana]

KOMODO ISLAND

Komodo is one of the 17,508 islands that compose the Republic of Indonesia. The island is particularly notable as the habitat of the Komodo dragon, the largest lizard on Earth, which is named after the island. Komodo Island has a surface area of 390 square kilometres and a human population of over two thousand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_(island)

 

[Bennedict]

INKA to Manufacture Trains for Export to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned train manufacturer PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA) is preparing to manufacture 340 trains to be exported to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka this year.

"We are processing the manufacturing process. All the requirements have been completed. We’re going to import 250 trains to Bangladesh and 90 trains to Sri Lanka," said INKA President Director Agus Purnomo to reporters on Saturday.

According Agus, the contract worth of the manufacturing reaches US$200 million. It is estimated that certainty of import to Bangladesh will be decided around March or April, while certainty for imports to Sri Lanka is expected to be determined by the end of this month.

Last year, PT INKA exported 150 trains worth US$72 million to Bangladesh.

"Besides, PT INKA has also imported trains to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Filipina, Thailand, Singapore, or even Australia,” he said.

LOUIS RIKA STEVANI | ANTARA

 

[pr1v4t33r]

Newly revitalized Skouw Border Post (bordering Indonesia & PNG), will be inagurated and opened this month.

 

[papacita]

Google Doodle Honors Indonesian Writer and Patriot Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Google marked what would have been the 92nd birthday of Indonesian patriot Pramoedya Ananta Toer on Monday with a doodle depicting the long-incarcerated novelist hard at work at his typewriter.

Commonly known as 'Pramoedya', or just 'Pram,' the writer held a mirror to both Japanese and Dutch colonialism, Google writes. But his life, as well as his art, became a symbol of Indonesia's unbowed spirit.

A stenographer turned journalist who inherited political activism from his father, Pram was jailed by the Dutch for two years in 1947 for being "anti-colonial." While behind bars he penned his first novel, The Fugitive.

Pram was imprisoned again in 1969, this time by the ascendant Suharto regime for his alleged links to the communist party. While a prisoner on the island of Buru, he wrote his most famous work: the four-volume Buru Quartet. The Buru Quartet—about a Javanese boy named Minke in the last years of Dutch colonialism—began life as a tale Pram, initially denied paper and pens, would tell to his fellow prisoners. The makeshift scraps of paper it eventually came to be written on had to be smuggled out of jail by Pram's friend, a German priest.

Pram, who died in 2006 at the age of 81, never stopped struggling for the betterment of his country. "I am half blind and almost totally deaf, but I won't stop being angry because not many people are outraged enough at the state of Indonesia," he told AP two years earlier.
http://time.com/4660664/google-doodle-pramoedya-ananta-toer-indonesia/

 

[Svantana]

TORAJA

The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja ("Land of Toraja").

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toraja

 

[Svantana]

Indonesian Shipyard Industries
250 shipyards in Indonesia, 110 shipyards were on the island of Batam.

 

[papacita]

Australia will be lucky to qualify for the 'G30' by 2050

Australia's relative importance in the global economy is set to dwindle rapidly over the next three decades, according to a global ranking by PwC that drives home the need for renewed focus on trade with all of Asia, not just China.

The global consultancy company predicts that, as early as 2030 – just 13 years from now – Asia will be home to about half of global gross domestic product, while the traditional Group of Seven powerhouse economies will have fallen to just more than 20 per cent.

At the same time, a combination of slower economic growth, smaller populations and weak productivity will have Australia overtaken by countries such as Thailand, the Philippines and Bangladesh.

Australia will drop from 19th place to 28th by mid-century.

The collapse in ranking will have major implications for both Australia's citizens and its prestige and influence on global decision making.

For instance, such a ranking will, by definition, eliminate its claim to sit on the Group of 20 nations.

"Lower growth puts pressure on our standard of living," said PwC Australia chief economist Jeremy Thorpe, who predicted average annual growth of 2.3 per cent in coming decades, materially lower than the past.

"To address this, and be globally competitive, Australia must remain an attractive place to do business, have a tax system that isn't out of step with the rest of the world, and prioritise more focused investment to lift our education and skills performances.

Potential under appreciated

"To succeed, Australia needs to focus on engaging effectively with the emerging Asian economies."

Despite years of growing success, for exporters and policymakers, the potential of the Asia region is still under appreciated, Mr Thorpe suggests.

PwC predicts that, by 2050, China's economy will be 30 per cent larger than the next second ranked country, which will be India. The world's fourth largest economy will be Indonesia. Other countries expected to advance dramatically are Turkey (from 14th to 11th), Mexico (from 11th to 7th), and Nigeria (22nd to 14th).

The fast growing economies – those in the emerging and developing categories – will expand at an average rate of about 35 per cent over the next 34 years.

The United States will drop from 2nd place to 3rd place, Japan will fall from 4th to 8th, Germany from 5th to 9th, to be replaced in the top seven countries by Brazil, Russia and Mexico.

The advanced G7 nations of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US will languish at an average of 1.6 per cent.

"By 2030 the nine largest Asian economies will comprise more than 50 per cent of the GDP of the largest 32 countries," Mr Thorpe said.

"Emerging countries will create many opportunities for businesses as these countries progress into new industries, engage more with world markets and their populations get wealthier."

Expanding economies
Mr Thorpe said the key point was to "lift our eyes beyond China" to rapidly expanding economies such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.

"That's where the bulk of economic growth will be in the next 30 years."

PwC's report estimates that Europe's total share of world GDP may be down to less than 10 per cent by 2050, smaller than India.

The report is based on an assumption that the global economy avoids a retreat into protectionism and "no major global civilisation-threatening catastrophes".

The rankings are based on purchasing power parity estimates, and show that, while advanced economies will still have higher average incomes, the rest of the world will be closing that gap by 2050.
http://www.afr.com/news/economy/aus...o-qualify-for-the-g30-by-2050-20170206-gu6elq


Taken straightly from the source, projected economy size of ASEAN countries by 2050 plus South Korea as comparison

http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/economy/the-world-in-2050.html

 

[Bennedict]

Russian Company to Build Railway in Kalimantan: Minister

TEMPO.CO, Palangka Raya - Indonesian Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi stated that a Russian-based company had declared their readiness in constructing a railroad track from East Kalimantan Province to Central Kalimantan.

The company, according to Budi, was actually ready to conduct groundbreaking but was postponed since they are awaiting the confirmation and approval from the Russian embassy.

“The railroad was intended to transport coal. It would be too expensive to transport people. But once the railroad tracks exist, then it can be used for mass people transport,” he said Sunday, February 5, 2017. Meanwhile, when asked upon the construction of the Puruk Cahu railroad track project from Bangkuang to Batanjung at the Central Kalimantan Province, the Transportation Minister was not too keen on providing any comments; he only highlighted the project’s slow progress. Minister Budi revealed that the company responsible for the construction, China Railway Group Limited, has yet to meet him.

“I will not cancel the construction of the railroad track that is being built by the China Railway Group Limited,” he said.

Budi denies the rumors suggesting that he is suspending the construction of the 425-kilometer railway. The minister even stated that the project had been included in the national strategic plan.

According to Budi, it is the China Railway Group Limited themselves that have not shown their commitment to accelerating the construction of the project.

ANTARA

 

[Svantana]

4000+ km transpapua near completion

Red line - existing roads
Blue line - contructed by central gov
Yellow line - contructed by army

 

[Nike]

RI`s forex reserves up US$500 million in Jan
Selasa, 7 Februari 2017 21:44 WIB | 824 Views

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesias foreign exchange reserves in the year ended on January 31, 2016, rose US$500 million to $116.9 billion from $116.4 billion a month earlier, Bank Indonesia (BI) said.

The foreign exchange reserve hike was fueled by export tax, foreign exchange earnings from oil and gas exports, and proceeds from the auction of Bank Indonesia Securities (SBBI), BI Executive Director of Communication Department Tirta Segara said in a written statement released on Tuesday.

The foreign exchange reserves would able to support the countrys resistance to global effect and maintain the Indonesian economic growth, he said.

He added that the foreign exchange reserves were enough to finance 8.7 months of imports, or 8.4 months of imports and foreign debt repayments.

"The foreign exchange reserves are above the international adequacy threshold of three months of imports," he noted.(*)

 

[MarveL]

RI`s forex reserves up US$500 million in Jan
Selasa, 7 Februari 2017 21:44 WIB | 824 Views

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesias foreign exchange reserves in the year ended on January 31, 2016, rose US$500 million to $116.9 billion from $116.4 billion a month earlier, Bank Indonesia (BI) said.