TheJakartaPost

EU mega budget hits immediate German opposition

Germany said it was "unable to accept" the $2.3-trillion budget for 2028-2034, which EU chief Ursula von der Leyen called "the most ambitious ever proposed". ...

1 month ago

Companies

Couche-Tard drops 7-Eleven takeover bid

ACT made an offer last year of nearly $40 billion to create the world's biggest convenience store chain and then sweetened the bid to $47 billion after the Japanese firm rebuffed the approach. ...

1 month ago

The Latest

Field check: Former Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan visits Klender traditional market in East Jakarta on June 22 to check the prices of basic commodities, especially cooking oil.

Regulations premium

Rural co-ops to enjoy interest rate of just 6% on KMP microloans, Zulkifli says

As the government rushes ahead to meet the KMP program's launch date on July 21, it risks leaving behind necessary legal support, including a Finance Ministry regulation currently being drafted and the Cooperatives Law revision being deliberated at the House.

1 month ago

A woman walks past a screen displaying Japan's Nikkei share average outside a brokerage in Tokyo on July 8, 2025.

Markets

Asian stocks drift before tech earnings as Fed drama confounds

Initial news that US President Donald Trump was likely to fire Powell soon sent stocks and the dollar sliding.

1 month ago

Visitors look at a textile machine during an international textile exhibition in Sawah Besar, North Jakarta, on March 23, 2024.

Domestic concerns loom as businesses cheer on US-RI deal

Some economists have flagged potential risks, particularly for foreign investors and manufacturers operating in the country, with the influx of duty-free products from the US.

1 month ago

Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo talks during a livestreamed press briefing after the monthly Board of Governors meeting in June.

BI cuts benchmark rate by 25 bps as stars align

The central bank views the deal Jakarta made with Washington as bringing “a positive result” overall, be it in terms of economic growth, trade balance or its impact to the financial market.

2 months ago

Containers of Dutch tech giant ASML, which supplies chipmaking machines to the semiconductor industry, are pictured in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on March 27, 2024.

Companies

ASML warns it may not achieve growth in 2026, shares drop

The direct and indirect impact of tariffs are still very uncertain, CFO Roger Dassen said in the interview, ASML was working with its supply chain to mitigate any impact.

2 months ago

Children play on July 15, 2022, along train tracks running through a shantytown in Pejompongan, Central Jakarta.

BPS delays releasing poverty data ‘to ensure accuracy’

The BPS has delayed the release of its poverty rate data for March 2025 “to ensure the accuracy and the quality of the data”, but the third such delay in government data this year could unsettle the market, experts have warned.

2 months ago

Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo speaks during a press conference at the central bank's headquarters in Jakarta, on January 15, 2025.

BI slashes rates again to boost growth

The rupiah was under pressure in the first half of the year, trading near its lowest levels since the Asian financial crisis on the back of US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs.

2 months ago

Exploring tax potential: The Communications and Digital Ministry has revived a plan to set up a council to monitor social media content. (Pexel/Tracy Le Blanc)

Govt eyes social media to boost tax revenue

The Finance Ministry projects state revenue will fall short of the target set in the 2025 state budget, citing weak tax receipts, declining commodity prices and recent policy changes.

2 months ago

A staff of a small shoe manufacturer makes their new products as they make an introductory video to be posted on social media in Bogor, West Java, on September 27, 2023.

Indonesian shoemakers fear Trump tariffs despite lower levy

Indonesia is the third-largest footwear exporter to the US behind China and Vietnam, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

2 months ago

Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto (second left) waves to journalists as he leaves the stage along with Deputy Investment and Downstream Minister Todotua Pasaribu (left), National Economic Council (DEN) deputy head Mari Elka Pangestu (second right) and Second Deputy Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir (right) during a press briefing on April 14, 2025, after a meeting about the United States tariff negotiation held at Airlangga's office in Jakarta.

Indonesia says US trade deal reached after 'extraordinary struggle'

Trump outlined an Indonesia deal similar to a preliminary pact struck recently with Vietnam, with a flat tariff on exports to the US roughly double the current 10 percent and no levies on US exports to Indonesia.

2 months ago

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati (center) accompanied by Deputy Ministers Thomas Djiwandono (second left) and Suahasil Nazara (second right) answered reporters' questions during a press conference on the results of the SUN auction at the Office of the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT), Jakarta, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

Bond market outlook: Stability through volatile times

High yields, stable macro conditions, pro-market policy support and solid institutional demand keep the domestic bond market relevant.

2 months ago

A technician checks a pipeline valve at the onshore receiving facility (ORF) of state-owned natural gas company PT Pertamina Gas in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java.

Regulations premium

Industry group decries supply shortage, high prices in cheap gas program

The HKI is urging the government to fulfill its fixed priced for industrial gas, or else open the door to imports if the available domestic supply was not enough to meet demand.

2 months ago

Rescue workers insert a hose to extract water from an illegal gold mining pit on July 26, 2023, at Pancurendang village in Banyumas, Central Java, in an effort to rescue eight miners trapped underground.

Gold boom, policy missteps fuel rise in deadly illegal mines

Indonesia faces a major dilemma between regulating illegal mining to protect the environment and safeguarding the livelihoods of people who depend on this activity.

2 months ago

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before signing a resolution approved by Congress to rescind the EPA's 2023 approval of California's plans to require a rising number of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks, and another resolution on California's low-NOx, or low-nitrogen oxide, regulation for heavy-duty highway and off-road vehicles and engines, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 12, 2025.

Trump says Indonesia to face 19 percent tariff under trade deal

Goods that have been transshipped to avoid higher duties will face steeper levies.

2 months ago

The Oyong wellhead platform stands in the Sampang Block, located off the coast of East Java in the Madura Strait, in this undated photo.

Lower US tariffs clincher for $15.5b energy import deal, minister says

Indonesia's negotiation team has proposed a US$15.5 billion oil and gas import deal as part of ongoing tariff talks in Washington, though whether this comes to pass is dependent on Washington lowering the country's current tariff rate of 32 percent.

2 months ago

Click and buy: A Jakarta resident uses a device to shop on a local e-commerce platform on June 15. The digital market continues to thrive in Indonesia and Asia in general.

Tech premium

Govt requires e-commerce to collect income tax from sellers

Online merchants are required to report their sales invoice information to the e-commerce platform, which will then forward it to the Tax Directorate General.

2 months ago

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang present NVIDIA Blackwell platform at an event ahead of the COMPUTEX forum in Taipei, Taiwan on June 2, 2024.

Companies

Nvidia says it will resume sales of 'H20' AI chips to China

The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, the firm confirmed in a statement.

2 months ago

Workers are seen on a scaffolding at the construction site of the Liuqing Railway in Anqing, in eastern China's Anhui province on June 2, 2025.

China's Q2 GDP growth tops forecast even as US tariff risks mount

Industrial output grew 6.8 percent year-on-year in June, beating forecasts, but retail sales growth slowed.

2 months ago

European Union flags flutter on the day European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde speaks to reporters following the Governing Council's monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sept. 12, 2024.

EU says could target $84 billion of US goods if tariff talks fail

The move came after US President Donald Trump threw months of painstaking negotiations with the EU into disarray by threatening to impose tariffs of 30 percent on the bloc's goods if there is no deal by August 1.

2 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto (left) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (right) announce the "political agreement" of the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) on July 14, 2025 in Brussels.

US tariff pressure melts frozen RI-EU trade talks

Both sides looking for more reliable partners to offset ‘unpredictable’ US policy.

2 months ago

A student carries lunch boxes on the first day of a free meal program at a Muhammadiyah high school in Sidoarjo, East Java, on January 6.

Companies premium

Muhammadiyah channels funds into new rural sharia bank

The OJK hoped that the conversion of BSM could pave the way for the merger of other rural banks under Muhammadiyah, eventually forming a fully-fledged sharia bank.

2 months ago

Maman Abdurrahman, minister of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), gestures as he leaves the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in South Jakarta on July 4, 2025, after he was questioned over official correspondence related to his wife's trip to several European cities.

Regulations premium

Govt to increase 2026 microloan cap to Rp 430t to boost homeownership

In line with President Prabowo's "3 million homes" program, the MSMEs and housing ministries are preparing to devise a special microcredit scheme for housing next year with a cap of Rp 430 trillion.

2 months ago

A woman holds euro banknotes in this illustration taken May 30, 2022. The euro hit parity against the US dollar on July 13, 2022.

Markets

Euro zone bond yields touch April high after EU gets 30% tariff

For its part, the EU has already prepared a list of tariffs worth 21 billion euros ($24.5 billion) on US goods if the two countries fail to reach a trade deal, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday.

2 months ago

South Korea's President Lee Jae-Myung talks during a meeting with party leaders after the presidential inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul on June 4, 2025.

South Korea says framework US trade deal possible by August, farm market access on table

South Korea is in a race to reach a compromise trade pact in the hope of avoiding a 25 percent tariff slapped on its exports by Trump that is set to kick in on August 1, after a late start to negotiations with a new president voted in last month.

2 months ago

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends a meeting with representatives of the European car industry as part of a Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the European Automotive Industry in Brussels, Belgium on Monday, March 3, 2025.

EU ministers weigh response to latest Trump tariff threat

EU officials insist the bloc remains clear-eyed on the challenges of dealing with the unpredictable US leader, and ready to hit back.

2 months ago

Shipping containers are stacked on April 12, 2024, at a port in Lianyungang, in
eastern China's Jiangsu province. Chinese exports plunged more than expected in
March, official figures show, as the world's second-largest economy struggles to
sustain its post-pandemic recovery.