Grace D. Amianti, Jakarta – Doing business in Indonesia often means being prepared for policy dynamics in which drastic changes or contradictions may occur over a short period of time.

Jakarta – The planned tax amnesty, aimed to lure more than Rp 100 trillion (US$7.5 billion) in funds back to the country, is expected to help condominium sales this year as wealthy Indonesians look

Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – The government should prepare for a bigger state budget deficit if it is to realize its capital spending to stoke growth amid looming risk of lower revenues and an uncerta

The government, faced with increasingly severe budget restraints, has encouraged ministries to develop infrastructure projects under public-private partnership (PPP) schemes, rather than relying on

Hasyim Widhiarto and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Jakarta/Surabaya – After working as a Go-Jek driver for several months, 38-year-old Irwan recently ditched his old motorcycle for a new Honda Vario with a

Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – Ministries and government agencies have been relying too much on state funds allocated to them instead of finding private sector partners to work on infrastructure project

Ayomi Amindoni, Jakarta – The government has raised Rp 496.6 trillion (US$37.35 billion) in state revenues as of May 31 with Rp 685.8 trillion in spending, pushing the state deficit to Rp 189.1 tri

Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – The government has revised down this year's economic growth target to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent year-on-year (yoy).

A large Burger King conspicuously located in front of a plaza in the East Timor capital drew the attention, at least momentarily, of local and foreign investors arriving in the plaza's lobby to att

Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – Bad loans and weak demand are hurting the outlook for Indonesian banks' loan growth amid financial authorities pushing for a more affordable lending rate to help revive th

Agnes Anya, Jakarta – Thursday might have seemed just one of those regular days for most Jakartans, but to beer drinker Dwi Setianto, 27, it was a day of sunlit glory, for it was yesterday that he

Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – If infrastructure bottlenecks get solved, Indonesia can expect to enjoy growth of 7 percent. That's the theory.

Anton Hermansyah, Jakarta – While the central bank has revised down its economic growth forecast for 2016, global rating agency Moody's Investor Service has revised up its forecast on the back of h

Stefani Ribka, Jakarta – Indonesian consumer confidence has started rising after a steady decline last year, global marketing research firm Nielsen's Consumer Confidence Survey shows.

Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – When numerous governments work hard to lure investors for local infrastructure projects, private lenders find it difficult to pick suitable ones to finance.

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Jakarta – Traditional market sellers and buyers may find the latest statistics intriguing, with prices of many food commodities on the rise despite recent data showing that consumer prices have def

Anton Hermansyah, Jakarta – Standard & Poor's (S&P), the only global rating agency that has yet to release an update on Indonesia's sovereign rating, says the country's economy is "fairly g

Indonesia saw its unemployment rate slightly fall in February, thanks to a higher absorption rate of workers by a number of sectors, including trade and services, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS

Ayomi Amindoni – Indonesia's slow pace of economic growth in the first quarter of 2016 is mainly due to the limited growth in both government spending and investment, a Bank Indonesia (BI) official

Anton Hermansyah – Indonesia and Timor Leste have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in developing human resources for the industrial sector in the two countries.

Ayomi Amindoni – Indonesia recorded monthly deflation of 0.45 percent in April, an impact of a cut in fuel prices and concurrent reduction in public transportation fares at the beginning of the mon

Ayomi Amindoni – The government has unveiled a 12th economic stimulus policy package containing 10 points aiming to facilitate starting small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Prima Wirayani and Stefani Ribka – Indonesia's economy may recover more slowly than expected as the expansion of the manufacturing industry, which the government hopes will propel growth amid low p

Ayomi Amindoni – Bank Indonesia (BI) has called for structural reforms in the industrial sector to increase the competitiveness of local companies and strengthen downstream business activity.

Anton Hermansyah – Rating agency Moody's has given a warning about Indonesian corporate debt, which relies heavily on foreign sources, while choosing not to downgrade the sovereign rating of the co

Anton Hermansyah – Current economic policies have yet to show adequate support for the development of the manufacturing industry, which may lead the country further into the middle income trap, exp

Ayomi Amindoni – The National Economic and Industry Committee (KEIN) has said industrialization should be the locomotive pulling Indonesia's economic growth.

Anton Hermansyah – Indonesia registered a trade surplus of US$1.65 billion in the first quarter of this year, amid a 14-percent cumulative year-on-year (YoY) decline in exports to $33.59 billion.

Jakarta – Indonesia's second largest bank by asset, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), will open a new branch in Timor Leste in an effort to expand business in the young nation, top official of the le

Tassia Sipahutar, Jakarta – Weak manufacturing growth is projected to drag investment prospects this year, with no bottoming out in sluggish manufacturing anytime soon.

Anton Hermansyah, Jakarta – The government has stipulated the mandatory use of the rupiah in oil and gas – related transactions, after nine months of delay for settling technicalities.

Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – Publicly listed PT Multi Bintang Indonesia, the country's largest brewery, has decided to put a break on its expansion plans because of uncertainties related to the ongoin

Tassia Sipahutar, Jakarta – Indonesia should continue to prioritize the upgrading of national infrastructure alongside ongoing structural reforms in order to improve the business climate and fully

Ina Parlina and Tassia Sipahutar, Jakarta – In another attempt to ease doing business in the country, the government is looking to trim more of the environmental and building permits currently requ

Ayomi Amindoni, Jakarta – The rupiah closed 72 points stronger against the US dollar, leaving its 13,000 level to hit 12,980 at Friday's close.

The government of Timor Leste (East Timor) has approved the purchase of the stake owned by Brazil's OIi telecommunications company Timor Telecom, a source from the Timorese government said Thursday

Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – The country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth will stay at 4.7 percent this year amid sluggish industrial activity, according to a projection by Switzerland-based inve

Farida Susanty, Jakarta – Players in the country's logistics industry are predicting that the sector will still grow by a healthy margin this year on the back of high domestic consumption and the g

Tassia Sipahutar, Jakarta – Hefty capital streaming into Indonesia may become a double-edged sword that triggers another episode of massive reversal as experienced in mid 2013.

Sadachika Watanabe, Jakarta – Satisfying your craving for Western-style fast food is getting easier in East Timor.

Ayomi Amindoni – Indonesia has recorded a 0.09 percent month-on-month deflation in February, with a modest year-on-year inflation at 4.42 percent amid lower food and electricity prices.

Tassia Sipahutar, Jakarta – Consumer prices are expected to have dropped in February, providing more room for Bank Indonesia (BI) to further cut its key rate to help revive the country's sluggish e

Timor-Leste (East Timor) offers tax advantages and other incentives to those who want to invest in the country and is working to overcome the shortcomings that still exist in terms of legislation,

Angela Macdonald-Smith – US oil giant ConocoPhillips has settled the biggest part of its long-running tax disputes with the Timor-Leste government, clearing the air for potential further investment

Khoirul Amin, Jakarta – A number of local business players are anticipating tighter competition following the government's recent decision to completely open up business sectors like restaurants, c

Tassia Sipahutar, Jakarta – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will boost lending to Indonesia to about US$10 billion within the next five years to finance the country's infrastructure projects.

Tassia Sipahutar, Business – Indonesia is predicted to see stable growth in the near future after taking several measures, but the economy remains susceptible to external headwinds, according to a

Kate Stanton, Dili, East Timor – Cesar Gaio loves cooking in the open air.