Bank Indonesia (BI) has cut its benchmark interest rate in a surprising move hours before its United States counterpart is expected to reduce borrowing costs in the US as well.

The amount is contingent on the effective rollout of the Rp 130 trillion program budgeted by the state asset fund for microcredits in 2025, with just three months remaining for state lenders to disburse the loans.

The government's latest stimulus package must be managed efficiently and be supported with other policy measures that address deeper problems for long-term benefits, experts say.

Concerns about the independence of the central bank have been mounting following the announcement of a "burden sharing" deal that will see BI increase the interest it pays on government deposits to fund state programs.

Vietnam has asked the United States to reconsider a decision that could lead to a ban on some Vietnamese seafood exports to the American market starting next year, a potential blow to an economy already hit by US tariffs.

The Chinese market regulator's announcement comes as the US and China hold trade talks in Madrid, where chips, including the ones made by Nvidia, are expected to be on the agenda.

A newly issued regulation due to take effect in November formalizes the OJK's policy to boost loan disbursement for MSMEs through eased access as part of its credit flow revitalization strategy.

The government aims to encourage household spending and boost growth with a year-end stimulus package, the third such measure after those January and June.

Though the United States decided against deportation, images of the workers being chained and handcuffed during the raid caused widespread alarm in South Korea.

A new House proposal for Danantara to invest in domestic fertilizer factories aims to tackle the industry's long-standing issue of import dependency as part of a strategy to overhaul the subsidized fertilizer system.

Experts warned that the regulation could further hurt the domestic ethanol downstream sector, even as Indonesia plans to launch a mandatory ethanol-based biofuel program.  

The new formula introduces a tiered system where companies will receive additional credit for labor and overhead if they produce in-house, and a lower score if they rely on contract manufacturers.

Weda Bay Nickel is a joint venture of Indonesia's Antam and Singapore-based Strand Minerals, whose shares are divided between French mining giant Eramet and Chinese steel major Tsingshan. 

The government has announced plans to shift some state deposits from the central bank to commercial banks to allow for more loan disbursements and thereby invigorate private sector activity in a bid to achieve 6 to 7 percent gross domestic product growth.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati was chairing a meeting with top ministry officials when she received a call from President Prabowo Subianto's office informing her she would be replaced within an hour, two sources said, underscoring the abruptness of the longtime finance czar's sacking.

Despite the government’s push to source more supply from state-owned Pertamina as a short-term solution, industry players remain reluctant to comply.

The House of Representatives is drafting an omnibus bill to establish an agency for managing strategic commodities.

Negotiations on the upgrade concluded in May, paving the way for improved market access in sectors such as agriculture, the digital economy and pharmaceuticals between China and the 10-member state ASEAN bloc, with Beijing seeking to position itself as the "more open" major economy, while US President Donald Trump continues to target the region with punitive trade curbs.

The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) has warned against a potential hike in the tobacco excise as the government looks to beef up state revenue next year without increasing taxes.

The recently completed draft regulation on waste, which eliminates tipping fees, has been hailed as a means of reviving long-delayed WtE projects, but issues like land availability and unfairly burdening private developers remain.

The initiative, which could cost around US$100 billion, would involve building solar farms of 1 to 1.5 hectares in villages of every subdistrict across the archipelago.

At 12.46 percent of the overall cost of living, Indonesians spend significantly more on transportation than the global average, according to Transportation Ministry data.

The central bank has announced a continuation of its burden-sharing scheme with the government and has purchased trillions of rupiah worth of government bonds this year, but an economist questions the legal basis for continuing a policy initially intended as a crisis response.

The at-risk stock is suspected to be a mix of imported rice from mid-2024 and lower-quality unhusked rice previously procured by Bulog.

Degraded land, polluted air and water stress pose a direct global economic threat but using natural resources more efficiently could cut pollution by half, one of the World Bank’s senior managing directors told Reuters.

Industry players said that if the gas supply chain data were made public, it would be easier to identify where the breakdown occured and who should be held accountable for shortages under the HGBT scheme.

Industry experts have bemoaned the latest rule on coal and mineral sales, which maintains the government-set benchmark prices for calculating royalties and taxes despite allowing more pricing flexibility, burdening miners with a widening gap between sales prices and royalties as global rates fall.

The existing incentives consist of exemptions from import duties and luxury taxes for completely built-up battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

A plan to cut local content requirements for goods made by foreign suppliers rather than in-house could dent investment as the country aims to woo foreign capital, businesses say.  

US President Donald Trump said he wants to make more investments in healthy US companies on Monday. Whether Corporate America is on board is another story.