Bill Guerin – Against the backdrop of the sudden closure of the US Embassy, violent clashes accompanying the re-election of Jakarta's widely disliked governor, Sutiyoso, and the brazen

Tony Sitathan – Benny Winoto Salim was a businessman dealing with palm oil and its by-products in Medan, Sumatra.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Used garments smuggled in from all over the world are flooding the Indonesian market, riling local producers who are unable to compete with the extremely low-pr

US Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce has advised American investors not to make any new investments in Indonesia until the investment and security climate improves.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economy is forecast to grow 3.86 percent year-on-year in the third quarter and 5.76 percent year-on-year in the fourth due to expected higher output ahead of year-

Bill Guerin – Despite growing "anti-IMF" sentiment among some Indonesian politicians, last month's draft budget for 2003 was crafted to appease the International Monetary Fund and ensur

[World Bank outgoing country director for Indonesia Mark Baird assumed the position in 1999 when the country was still struggling from a deep economic crisis, making him one of the f

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday Indonesia was on track to achieve single digit inflation by year end, a day after Jakarta reported its first increase in

Jakarta – Indonesia posted higher inflation in August, the first increase in six months and a figure prompting speculation further interest rate cuts would be limited.

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – Raising revenues for the state budget is only one of the objectives of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency's (IBRA) massive auction sale of Rp 135.4 trill

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – Most analysts view the government's estimate of 5 percent economic growth for 2003 as too optimistic since consumer spending, one of the biggest locomotives of

Jakarta – Indonesia's foreign direct investment approvals dived to $2.67 billion in the first seven months of 2002 from $5.55 billion in the same period last year, government figures sh

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) seems not to be fully aware yet that credibility and accountability should be its basic capital in executing it

Jakarta – Indonesia has raised more than US$2.5 billion from the sale of bad loans that it took over following the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

Jakarta – Economists said the government was being too optimistic with its economic growth target of 5 percent for next year, as stated in its 2003 state budget draft, as they argued th

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund praised Indonesia's 2003 draft budget on Friday, describing it as "sound" and saying it made big headway in reducing the country's hefty debt b

Kuala Lumpur – East Timor took control of its legal system from United Nations administrators too soon and weakness of the judiciary is hurting investor confidence, Foreign Minister Jos

Robert Go, Jakarta – The latest review team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) left Jakarta on Sunday with some praises for Indonesia's economic reform progress.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed on Saturday reviewing the country's economic situation and the implementation of economic reform measures here, a

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's highest legislative body is likely to call on the government to end ties with the International Monetary Fund, arguing that its prescriptions are

Indonesian parliamentarians have blamed security and legal concerns for the country's failure to win China's first major liquefied natural gas supply contract.

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) is likely to recommend the government to cut ties with international donor agencies, particularly the International M

Alan Beattie and Tom McCawley – The International Monetary Fund does not usually end up being sued by the people it has negotiated with.

East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta says the legal framework needed to attract foreign investment will be established by the end of this year.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) said on Wednesday it had secured at least Rp 17.75 trillion (US$2.4 billion) in proceeds from a sale of loan a

Emad Mekay, Washington – Two very distinct welcomes have greeted the newest member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): free-market advice from the Fund and World Bank and warnings

East Timor formally joined the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Tuesday, with Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri describing the event in Washington as "an important day for us, a hi

Washington – East Timor, the world's youngest nation, was due to join the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank on Tuesday, the lending institutions said.

Malcolm Maiden – Towards the end of 2000, Mark Carnegie, John Wylie and friends, including John Singleton's media group, STW, placed a large bet on the Indonesian television industry.

Dili and a Portugal Telecom-led consortium signed a 15-year concession Friday for the Lisbon-headquartered company to establish and operate the new country's telecommunications systems.

John McBeth, Jakarta – His office overlooking Jakarta's central business district, the shirt-sleeved boss of a Western mining company gestures to a graph on his computer screen.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – As the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) opened on Wednesday the bidding for its ambitious sale of some Rp 145 trillion (US$16 billion) worth of non

Michael Shari, Surabaya – When Indonesia's President Suharto fell from power in 1998 and the business empires of his cronies melted down, young Hary Tanoesoedibjo saw a chance to snap u

John Garnaut – Forget luring Allan Jones to 2GB, or his role in rescuing Channel 10 – John Singleton looks set to realise his most lucrative media deal tomorrow.

Jakarta – While Indonesia's economy has been making significant improvement in a number of key areas, progress remains relatively fragile, the chief representative of the International

Geoffrey Barker – Sixty influential Chinese business association leaders arrived in Dili from Macau last week to talk to East Timorese leaders about investing in the impoverished new na

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The latest data showing a precipitous drop in foreign direct investment (FDI) should serve as a wake-up call for the government to quickly take action to impr

Robert Go, Jakarta – Architect Andi Perdana dug out his wallet without hesitation and snapped up new cell phones for himself and his wife in a shopping mall in Surabaya, East Java.

Clare Black, Oslo – East Timor, a brand new nation barely one month old, hopes that the rebirth of its legendary gourmet coffee will bring some much-needed income to its people who are

Jakarta – Indonesia told international creditors yesterday that its efforts to turn around the sickly economy were bearing fruit, and the creditors largely agreed.

[Australians keen to help in the reconstruction of East Timor are being asked to make a financial commitment.

Canberra – The federal government was examining introducing duty-free status for all goods of East Timor origin, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri told a United Nations summit on food and agriculture that the burden of foreign debt on poor nations restricted access to food and undermined

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has agreed to increase import tariffs on all food and agricultural commodities in the near-term, a report said.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A Portuguese company is poised to win a $US16 million contract to set up East Timor's new telecommunications network, further consolidating Portugal's commercial i

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Thousands of poultry farmers declined to pay a special poultry tax to the West Java provincial administration because of their losses in the fierce competiti

Dean Yates, Dili – About the only thing pro-Jakarta militias didn't destroy in their rampage after East Timor voted in 1999 to break free was something they couldn't touch – the territo

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The economy grew by 2.47 percent in the first three months of 2002 compared to the same period last year, fueled mainly by strong consumer spending, the Centr

Robert Go, Jakarta – Increasing rice shortages could force many Indonesians into having to give up their favourite dish of nasi goreng by the end of the decade.

Rod McGuirk – East Timor has a good chance of becoming financially independent in a few years through Timor Sea energy royalties, the World Bank told donor nations yesterday.