Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has issued a regulation providing more value-added tax (VAT) discounts for purchasers of electric cars and buses in 2024.

TikTok had been forced to close its relatively new e-commerce service, TikTok Shop, in Indonesia after the country banned online shopping on social media platforms last year, citing the need to protect smaller merchants and users' data.

Indonesia ranks high for per-capita food waste.

The rule brings Indonesia in line with Australia and Canada, which have enacted similar publishers’ rights policies.

The campaign team for Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka has toned down public expectations about one of its key election promises, explaining that the free lunch and milk will initially be handed out only to children in disadvantaged rural regions.

China's central bank on Tuesday cut a key benchmark lending rate used to price mortgages, as Beijing seeks to boost its flagging growth.

The plans announced at an industry summit on the eve of the Singapore Airshow aim for all departing flights to use 1 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from 2026, rising to 3-5 percent by 2030, subject to global developments and the wider availability and adoption of SAF.

Apindo says Indonesia is still not entirely capable of sourcing all of its inputs domestically, thereby imports of some raw materials are still necessary.  

Under the plan, announced by Chee Hong Tat at the Changi Aviation Summit on the eve of the Singapore Airshow, the country aims for a 1 percent SAF target from 2026 and plans to raise it to 3-5 percent by 2030, subject to global developments and the wider availability and adoption of SAF.

Singapore has become the first country to embark on a cross-border collaboration on carbon capture and storage (CCS) with Indonesia.

Prabowo has been advised to review costly fuel subsidies, which reached Rp 500 trillion ($32 billion) last year, to ensure only the poor would benefit, but it was unclear if the defence minister would take the suggestion, the vice-chair of his campaign team Eddy Soeparno told Reuters.

The finance minister said there was nothing irregular about automatic adjustments in the state budget, saying that the government had used the fiscal mechanism since 2022 to cover urgent and unexpected spending.

National Food Agency (Bapanas) head Arief Prasetyo Adi said the distribution of rice aid resumed on Thursday, one day after the election.

Ministers from across the globe are convening for a World Trade Organization meeting in Abu Dhabi between Feb. 26 and 29 to try to broker deals, including on reforming its hobbled dispute system and cutting fishing subsidies.

The province began imposing a 150,000-rupiah tax on arriving tourists Wednesday to preserve the culture of the island, officials said.

Lifting the ban would contradict the government’s “blue economy” agenda and Indonesia could face difficulties with its downstream push in the fisheries sector.

Retailers will not comply with future government-led cheap food programs until the government pays up for a previous program.

Fatty acids which use palm oil as a key raw ingredient are found in both consumer products like cosmetics and medicine and industrial lubricants.

Bapanas head Arief Prasetyo Adi said the agency together with Bulog and other relevant ministries had received the order from the President to deal with rice scarcity both in traditional and modern markets around the country.

A recent revision to the energy ministry's regulation for on-grid solar systems and energy distribution businesses will slow solar adoption in the country due to provisions that make installation less attractive and getting on-grid more difficult, users say.

Social Affairs Ministry appears to be sidelined as President and other ministers take charge of disbursing social assistance (Bansos) during run-up to election.

Critics have suggested the purchase of the Chinese Commuter Line trains, saying it may be linked to ongoing liabilities that Indonesia owes to China for financing the construction and operation of Whoosh.

Experts and businesses are skeptical about the demand from industries abroad to store CO2 in Indonesia, while the scheme alone is unlikely to be helpful from an environmental standpoint.

Last year, Jakarta experienced some of its worst congestion and pollution in years. 

Despite being an outgoing president, Jokowi has spent his time on an extensive tour across Java to distribute social aid (Bansos) in the past two months, which coincided with the election campaign season.

The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) on Tuesday claimed that airline ticket prices remained high due to costly aviation fuel.

“Hefty social aid in the middle of an election, far bigger than the amount during COVID-19, is a peculiarity or irregularity that arouses suspicion,” UI Faculty of Economics dean Teguh Dartanto told the Post on Tuesday.

Indonesia has been interested in becoming part of the OECD since 2022 to accelerate its transition into a developed country.

The comptrolled pointed to projects where the main infrastructure had been built but without proper accessibility for the public.

The energy ministry has called for regional restraint after Jakarta and Banten unveiled last month separate plans to raise the local fuel tax, especially ahead of the general election on Feb. 14.