From toll roads and data centers to geothermal energy, healthcare and battery materials, INA is putting long-term capital behind Indonesia’s future.

Labor unions hail the new legislation as a win for workers, thanks to more rigid arrangements on contract work, outsourcing, layoffs and severance payments.

Indonesia needs to carefully plan where data centers can be located and avoid excessive concentration, as more than 60 percent of the country’s data centers are concentrated in just two locations, Greater Jakarta and Batam.

Nickel prices fell to a year-to-date low of US$15,510 a tonne on Oct. 2, with further downside risks likely to hinge on Indonesia’s nickel supply policy, according to Fitch’s BMI Research.  

Forestry think-tank Auriga Nusantara estimates that forest loss in Indonesia surged by 66 percent in 2025 to 433,751 ha, its highest level in eight years, with more than 78,000 ha linked to food and energy self-sufficiency programs.

Anxiety returned as figures showed Tehran had increased strikes on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, Houthis rebutted claims they had lost key territory and top oil officials warned that global reserves were running worryingly low.

Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserves have declined slightly as Bank Indonesia (BI) battles fresh bouts of rupiah volatility.

The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) is cautiously reintroducing short-selling in equities in a move to improve liquidity on the local bourse, but the measure could have negative side effects unless it comes with stringent regulatory enforcement.

The plan to integrate the operations of private lender Bank Danamon with the local branch of Japan’s MUFG Bank comes as Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) pushes for further consolidation to improve efficiency in the domestic banking industry.  

Analysts warned that the change could signal less emphasis on non-mineral industries such as textiles and footwear, while the energy transition could take a back seat when it conflicts with the government’s increasingly dominant downstreaming agenda.

Indonesia’s publicly listed firm PT Energi Mega Persada, part of the Bakrie Group conglomerate, also joined the deal with a $200 million investment, bringing the total investment in the US company to $450 million.

The global artificial intelligence boom is fast becoming the key driver of economies around the world, but the boom is risking wider global inequality by leaving some nations behind, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva warned on Wednesday.

Though details are still being ironed out, the subsidy plan aims to ease price-related pressures on soybean importers while ensuring their availability and affordability, including for consumers of tofu and tempeh.

The President's climate and energy envoy told a sustainability forum on Monday that the country had achieved rice self-sufficiency three years earlier than planned, so no additional forests would be cleared to make way for paddies.

Both global benchmark Brent and West Texas Intermediate rebounded Tuesday and rose in early Asian trade, as figures showed Tehran had increased strikes on tankers in the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Indonesia's nickel processing boom is outpacing its reserves, with experts warning of depletion within a decade and urging the government to shift from price support to policies that sustain ore longevity.

The government targeted to finalize the bill before the end of October, following a Constitutional Court ruling on October 2024 that ordered the establishment of a new employment law separate from the Job Creation Law within two years.   

For Indonesia, a pause in US tightening could improve sentiment, but a sustained recovery would require confidence that inflation pressures and US interest rates are moving toward a more favorable path.

The state-owned infrastructure financier, as part of its partnership with NUCA, is funding water, wastewater and other projects to help regions adapt to a changing climate through built-in resilience.

ASEAN imports more than half of the crude for its refineries from the Middle East at a time when global benchmark prices are around US$100 a barrel.

Despite the deadlock, lawmakers are still targeting Oct. 8, or sooner, to pass the bill before entering a recess that will last until next month.  

Danantara would retain its SOE dividends and use them to invest for projects and as “leverage” to attract private capital rather than simply transferred to the state budget, the Finance Ministry noted.

The government is rolling out a new stimulus package to support consumer spending and employment in the fourth quarter of 2026, with some measures to remain in place after the turn of the year.

The euro weakened sharply on Monday to a 17-month low as fiscal worries in France amid a steep bond market rout stoked fears of contagion risks in the region, helping the dollar shrug off soft US jobs data that dented near-term rate hike expectations.

Crude oil exports from the Middle East rose above pre-war levels in four of the seven days of the final week of September, shipping data showed on Monday, despite attacks on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Aramco has been looking ​at offering discounts for oil loaded off Oman to compensate buyers for record freight ​rates, people familiar with the matter said last week, as it sought to protect its market ‌share ⁠after the regional conflict hit exports.

The 2027 budget plan passed last week foresees the highest tax revenue relative to gross domestic product in the past decade, which the government aims to achieve without introducing new levies or hiking rates.