Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The House of Representatives approved the 2007 budget Tuesday, with the government envisaging a wider deficit of Rp 40.5 trillion (US$4.3 billion) to help accele

Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta – Despite fairly free elections at a regional level, democracy in Indonesia is still at the procedural stage, promoting the "practices of a shadow state an

Canberra – East Timor's parliament will next month consider ratifying a revenue sharing treaty with Australia covering Timor Sea energy resources that would remove one of the stumbling

Victor Tjahjadi, Jakarta – Indonesia has terminated a contract with ExxonMobil Corp to drill a major offshore gas field in the Natuna Sea off the west coast of Borneo, in a move that ma

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Within a week, Indonesia will finish repaying all its debts to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ending an eight-year, up-and-down relationship with the glo

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – High global demand for non-oil and gas commodities, including crude palm oil, coal and rubber, has once again helped the country's total exports reach a record g

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla is under fire for his statement that democracy is less important than political stability and security in attracting foreign inv

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Jakarta – Indonesia's attractiveness as an investment destination is slipping compared with its more competitive regional rivals, according to a report released Wednesday by the World B

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – The estimated drop in global economic growth within the next two years could pose serious setbacks to developing countries like Indonesia if governments failed t

Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta – State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina has begun to feel the pinch of increasingly steeper competition in the oil and gas sector following the issuanc

Jakarta – The workers union of city-owned water operator PDAM Jaya has urged the Jakarta administration to review the sales of shares in its foreign partners, saying it was concerned th

Jakarta – After 44 four years of operation, state-owned television company TVRI has become a public television network, funded by the government but intended to be editorially independe

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The central government believes excesses in the implementation of regional autonomy are scaring away foreign investment.

Mark Dodd – East Timor will double its spending on police and defence this financial year, under a national budget worth $US451.9 million ($601 million).

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Foreign investment still appears to be in the doldrums, with the second half of the year starting off to a 24 percent decline in direct foreign investment compar

Marlina MS, Jakarta – The government is targeting state revenue of privatization activities to reach Rp3 trillion by next year.

Jerry Norton, Dili – An agreement critical to advancing development of the Timor Sea's biggest gas resource could go to East Timor's parliament in September or October, and would likely

Politicians may consider President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's state budget proposal for 2007 a boring document, devoid of bold fiscal measures and without any frills at all.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – A rosier economic picture is expected to emerge in the second half of the year, with increased growth forecast after a recent easing of inflation and interest ra

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's tobacco market, the world's fifth-largest, is primed for foreign takeovers.

East Timor's parliament has passed the 2006-7 fiscal year budget, the young nation's largest ever at 315 million dollars, after a delay caused by violence and political upheaval in May.

Jephraim P Gundzik – Indonesian government officials and foreign analysts are excessively optimistic about the country's medium-term economic outlook.

Officials and city councillors were angered by the sale of 49 percent of water company PT Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja)'s shares.

Jakarta – If Indonesia's economy was a jumbo jet, it would be flying on the single engine of exports at the moment, with the other engines of private consumption, investment and governm

Indonesia may be able to press ahead this year with its plan to fully repay its remaining debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – a year earlier than scheduled – on the back of

Jakarta – The business community is unimpressed with the newly launched financial policy package and doubts the seriousness of the authorities in implementing the contents of the policy

Jakarta – The government and Bank Indonesia (BI) have signed a joint decree to improve coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities and help reform financial markets.

RR Ariyani, Jakarta – Entrepreneur groups consider that improvement to infrastructures is far more interesting to investors than the granting of fiscal incentives.

Jakarta/Batam – The government plans to relax the implementation of the labor legislation in the newly declared special economic zones (SEZs) on three major islands in Riau Island provi

Jakarta – The cost of illegal imports in lost revenue to the government almost doubled last year, with Industry Minister Fahmi Idris warning Friday the practice had reached a critical l

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – The government will provide subsidies for farmers engaged in planting palm oil, cacao, rubber and corn in an effort to boost the country's plantation out

Jakarta – Unscrupulous officials who fast-track developments without concern for planning laws are favoring big developers over common Indonesians and are choking the productivity of ci

Agus Supritanto, Manado – The productivity of the Indonesian agriculture sector has declined.

Tony Hotland and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla says the government has no option but to take up the new loans offered recently by foreign creditors as it lacks othe

Manila – About 300,000 Indonesian survivors were impoverished after a deadly earthquake struck the center of densely populated Java island last month, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) st

Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta – Most regencies and municipalities are still lagging in creating attractive investment conditions five years after the regional autonomy law gave them gre

The World Bank, the coordinator of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), has again reminded the government of the vital importance of reform for the generating of sustainably high

RR Ariyani, Jakarta – It is estimated that the growth of the real sector will remain stagnant this year.

Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta – Businesspeople normally state that the quality of local governance and institutions is the principal factor that helps determine whether they will invest

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Bandung/Jakarta – Government underfunding is to blame for the high number of fatal accidents on the state rail network, PT Kereta Api's (PT KA)

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – Investor confidence in the country's economy may further dwindle as the government and lawmakers are showing no sense of urgency about completing the del

Indonesia's consumer confidence improved a notch in the first quarter of this year, compared to the previous quarter, with more than 20 percent of respondents in a recent survey believi

Riyadi Suparno, Tokyo – The World Bank, a strong advocate of private sector investment in infrastructure, is now calling on governments around the world to increase their investment in

Jakarta – Experts have criticized a plan by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to form a new working unit to help address the country's economic problems and improve the investment clim

Jakarta – Fashion products have not bounced back from the fuel price increase in October last year, causing earnings from clothing and shoes to decline by 40 percent since January.

Tony Hotland and Urip Hudiono, Mataram/Jakarta – President Yudhoyono confirmed the government's intention Tuesday of repaying ahead of schedule Indonesia's multibillion dollar debt to t

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Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta – The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has warned the government that enacting a new investment law and improving the macro economy woul

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Hard work still lies ahead for the government despite its expectations of higher growth this year on more investments, with official figures showing actual overs