The South American trade bloc Mercosur and the European Union will sign on Saturday a deal 25 years in the making to create one of the world's largest free trade areas at a time of growing protectionism and volatility.

The investment minister said on Thursday that he expected further growth in domestic investment this year, particularly via funding channeled by Danantara.

The US Supreme Court issued three decisions on Wednesday but did not decide the closely watched dispute over the legality of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs.

Coordinating Economy Minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Tuesday that President Prabowo Subianto had committed to the funding to keep technology competitive and sustain investment in the textile sector.

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed in September last year during President Prabowo Subianto’s visit to Ottawa, marking a key milestone in Indonesia-Canada trade ties.

The former Indonesian’ finance minister’s appointment will bring valuable perspective thanks to her distinguished experience in economic and development policy, the foundation said.

Total bilateral trade with Iran stood at merely $206.9 million in 2023, according to the Trade Ministry.

During the 2015-2024 period, wages grew by 16.1 percent in compound annual growth rate (CAGR), significantly outpacing productivity per worker, which increased by only 2.4 percent.

The long-awaited Balikpapan refinery upgrade, beset by multiple delays since the project broke ground in 2018, came onstream on Monday in a ceremony led by the President, with the energy ministry hailing the integrated facility's potential to significantly reduce fuel imports.

The retail sales index was projected to climb to 231.7 points in December while the consumer confidence index dropped slightly to 123.5 points.

A report from property consultancy Colliers Indonesia shows that only around 2200 units were added to the apartment supply in the capital last year, marking a significant drop from some 4,000 new units that had entered the market in 2024.  

Two-wheeler sales, meanwhile, reached 6.4 million units last year, marking a 1.3 percent rise from the year before.

Thousands of Irish farmers, many of whom traveled across the country on tractors, protested on Saturday against the European Union's Mercosur trade deal after a majority of EU states gave a provisional go-ahead for its largest ever free-trade accord.

Credit growth rose 7.74 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 8.3 quadrillion (US$493 billion) in November, accelerating from growth of 7.36 percent yoy in October, according to the Financial Services Authority (OJK).  

The Jakarta-based think tank found the program would lift GDP by just 0.15-0.17 percent at its peak in the early 2040s before the impact gradually wanes.

The Indonesian oil industry has met its crude lifting target set in the 2025 state budget, marking the first time the country managed to do so in almost a decade, while gas output failed to meet the goal.

The EU is expected Friday to give a long-delayed go ahead to a huge trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur championed by business groups but loathed by many European farmers.

Last year’s fiscal deficit, or the amount by which state spending exceeded state revenue, was larger than planned at 2.92 percent of GDP, the finance minister revealed on Thursday.

The government also expressed confidence that Indonesia will end imports of white crystal sugar (GKP) this year, backed by a large-scale sugarcane plantation project in East Java.

Core fiscal and structural challenges, including high bond yields and legal and political uncertainty, continue to be a concern for the country, despite Finance Ministry optimism, according to CSIS. 

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff will also be part of the planned delegation, the source said.

Crude has seen wild swings since the US president ordered the toppling Saturday of Nicolas Maduro, his counterpart in Caracas, and said Washington would run the country while demanding "total access" to its key resource.

Trade protectionism has become a new normal that economists say Indonesia will have to navigate carefully this year through market diversification.

Indonesia’s banking sector had a tough time in 2025 due to several challenges, mostly stemming from weaker domestic demand. A struggling middle-to-low-income class has put pressure on banks from the assets and liability side.

Inflation in 2025 reached the highest level in three years, spurred by increasing prices for various food commodities but also for gold, as the precious metal reached record highs in a world marked by uncertainty.

The US$2.66 billion surplus in November extended the country’s run of monthly surpluses to 67 consecutive months.

The dumping margin for Indonesian hot-rolled deformed steel rebar was just 1.3 percent, well below the 2 percent de minimis threshold required to impose duties.

Venezuela, whose President Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces on Saturday, according to US President Donald Trump, has the world's largest oil reserves.

S&P Global's latest manufacturing PMI report showed the December reading slipped 2.1 points to 51.2 from the previous month, though it noted that surveyed firms anticipated a pickup in demand in the new year.

Despite a slowdown in the first nine months of 2025, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa says Indonesia’s economy could outpace the government’s own budget assumption.