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Opinion 3 weeks ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Odd price movements and Haji Isam’s rumored Bayan acquisition
On Aug. 15 three prominent businessmen toured a site in Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan, reportedly to scout potential mining sites. They were tycoon Haji Isam, PT Bayan Resources owner Dato’ Low Tuck Kwong and defense entrepreneur Norman Joesoef. The meeting quickly sparked speculation that Haji Isam was interested in acquiring a 62 percent majority stake in Bayan Resources.
Opinion 3 weeks ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Drought, rising prices expose vulnerabilities in rice supply
Rice prices have trended upward for the past seven months despite the Prabowo Subianto administration’s claim that Indonesia has achieved rice self-sufficiency. The price increase has occurred even as rice stocks held by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) remain high. The trend could intensify as an El Niño-induced dry season brings worsening drought conditions, potentially disrupting harvests and putting further upward pressure on rice prices.
Opinion 3 weeks ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Purbaya’s liquidity push: Lending catalyst or the wrong cure?
Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has once again injected liquidity into Indonesia’s banking system, placing an additional Rp 70 trillion (US$4.3 billion) in state budget surplus funds with state-owned banks. The measure is intended to spur lending to the real sector and, ultimately, accelerate economic growth. Yet its effectiveness remains uncertain, raising a fundamental question: Can another liquidity injection genuinely revive credit growth, or is Purbaya mistaking the symptom for the cause in a classic chicken-and-egg problem?
Opinion 3 weeks ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Shooting from the hip: Prabowo's unscripted presidency
President Prabowo Subianto's tenure has been marked by a recurring pattern of rhetorical detours. His supporters see his direct, unscripted style as refreshingly authentic; critics see a habit that regularly produces high-profile verbal slips with real domestic and international consequences.
Opinion 4 weeks ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Danantara’s hedge fund gamble
Danantara’s plan to appoint hedge fund managers marks a potentially significant shift toward a more complex and higher-risk investment strategy. The move comes even as the state asset fund has yet to publish financial reports substantiating President Prabowo Subianto’s claims of stellar performance. It raises a fundamental question: Is Danantara’s investment strategy aligned with its long-term national mandate, or is the fund experimenting with increasingly aggressive approaches to managing state assets?
Opinion 4 weeks ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Ex-top prosecutor's exit strategy feels like political theatre
The legal saga surrounding former assistant attorney general for special crimes (Jampidsus) Febrie Adriansyah has entered yet another chapter. What began as one of Indonesia's highest-profile money laundering investigations has increasingly evolved into a politically charged legal battle, with the former senior prosecutor now appearing to pursue an exit strategy through the courts.
Opinion 4 weeks ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: RI’s 5.29 percent growth tests sustainability of fiscal expansion
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced that Indonesia’s economy expanded 5.29 percent year-on-year (yoy) in the second quarter of 2026, marking notable growth above the 5 percent threshold amid continued global uncertainty and geopolitical tensions. The figure also improved from 5.12 percent in the same quarter last year, suggesting that President Prabowo Subianto’s increasingly expansionary fiscal policies have helped sustain domestic economic activity even as global trade growth weakens. However, the stronger growth also comes as the government ramps up spending on its flagship programs, raising questions about the fiscal cost of sustaining this momentum.
Opinion 1 month ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Foreign debt climbs to Rp 8 quadrillion amid weak loan usage
Indonesia’s external debt has continued to rise and reached a new high of Rp 8 quadrillion ($444 billion) in May 2026. The increase was primarily driven by government and central bank debt, which accounted for 55.9 percent of total external debt, or US$248.5 billion, after growing 3.89 percent year-on-year (yoy).
Opinion 1 month ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Whoosh's mounting financial burden is now govt’s problem
The government's decision to take over the debt restructuring of the Whoosh Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway marks the end of one of Indonesia's largest business-to-business (B2B) infrastructure experiments. A decade after promising the project would not rely on the state budget, the government has been forced to step in. The rescue raises a broader question: If the existing line has yet to prove financially sustainable, why extend it to Surabaya?
Opinion 1 month ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Trump's forced labor tariffs: Flawed but revealing
United States President Donald Trump has revived his tariff agenda under a new legal justification. After the Supreme Court struck down his "Liberation Day" tariffs in February, his administration turned to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, accusing trading partners of failing to prevent forced labor in their supply chains. Indonesia is among the affected countries, which has raised questions about how effectively it is tackling forced labor at home.
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- Much ado about asset forfeiture
- Mass poisonings cast doubt on free meals reforms
- Indonesia, China eye cooperation to boost 3 million homes program
- Prabowo sacks Purbaya, turns to familiar hand at Finance Ministry
- Children are no longer the priority, were they ever?
- The benefit of the doubt has expired
- Australian woman dies after falling from cliff at Bali’s Kelingking Beach
- Wildfire breaks out again at Mount Bromo
- Purbaya says he was 'upset', but half expected removal
- Purbaya ousted after clash with Prabowo's ex-army colleague, sources say
