Indonesia The Second Presidential Debate – Lively Arguments, Loose Facts (17 Feb) Incumbent President Joko Widodo (“Jokowi”) and challenger Prabowo Subianto locked horns over energy, food, infrastructure, natural resources and the environment on Sunday, 17 February, during the second presidential debate. While Jokowi sought to burnish his...
Indonesia Jokowi Lashes Out at Prabowo over “Russian Propaganda”, Then Clarifies Statement (2 Feb) Incumbent President Joko Widodo “Jokowi” accused the campaign team of Prabowo Subianto of disseminating propaganda via a foreign consultant, calling the efforts “Russian propaganda”. Prabowo’s team denied the accusation. When subsequently asked to...
Indonesia Jokowi Moves to Release Abu Bakar Bashir, then Backpedals (18 Jan, 23 Jan) President Joko Widodo (“Jokowi”) caused a stir on 18 January when he announced plans to release radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. Bashir was sentenced to jail for 15 years under anti-terrorism laws back...
Indonesia Jakarta’s First Light Rail Transit System to Begin Operations in April 2019 (10 Jan) PT Light Rail Transit (LRT) Jakarta Project Director Iwan Takwin said that construction on phase one of Jakarta’s LRT system is 97 percent complete, and that commercial operations are expected to commence...
Indonesia Indonesia Closes the US$3.85 billion Freeport-McMoRan Mine Deal (21 Dec 2018) Indonesia’s state-owned mine company PT Inalum took control of the local unit of Freeport-McMoRan Inc on 21 December, Friday, giving it control of the massive Grasberg copper mine. The deal hands Inalum a 51.23% stake...
Indonesia Jokowi to Double Cash Handouts under PKH (11 Dec) Social Affairs Minister Agus Gumiwan Kartasasmita told reporters that the PKH aid programme would double in scope from US$1.3 billion to US$2.6 billion in 2019. The programme, aimed at 10 million families, will be dispersed in four...
Indonesia 212 Reunion Rally Turns Political (2 Dec) Hundreds of thousands of Indonesian Muslims gathered in Central Jakarta on Sunday, 2 December, to commemorate the second anniversary of widespread protests against Jakarta’s then-governor, Basuki “Ahok” Purnama. The rally also took on a political tone as Islam Defenders...
Indonesia Surprise Rate Hike by Bank Indonesia due to Widening Current Account Deficit (15 Nov) Indonesia’s central bank surprised observers with its sixth rate hike in 2018, bringing its benchmark rate to 6%. Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo explained that the hike was aimed at reducing the...
Indonesia GDP Growth – Better than Expected in the Third Quarter, but Dark Clouds Ahead Indonesia’s economy experienced 5.17% year-on-year growth in the third quarter, according to Statistics Indonesia. This is above estimates by agencies such as Reuters. However, economists foresee the growth rate weakening further due...
Indonesia Singapore-Indonesia Bilateral Leaders’ Retreat – Seven Agreements Signed Singaporean and Indonesian leaders signed seven wide ranging agreements during a Bilateral Leaders’ Retreat on 10-11 October. In particular, the bilateral investment treaty aims to protect investors’ interests and reinforce economic ties, while the US$10 billion currency...