July 25, 2017 edition
After an unusually disappointing sales performance during the normally busy month of Ramadan, companies are quietly scaling down their second half financial targets and their full year sales and earnings target as well. The government is doing the same thing with its 2017 budget plan. Last week, the government submitted a revised 2017 budget plan to parliament, which has been considerably scaled down, largely due to lower than expected tax revenue, reflecting the current slow business recovery. And, although the world economy, particularly China, is showing signs of recovery, it is still not being felt by its trading partners, like us. Last week, China's growth in the second quarter was a respectable 6.9 percent, well above market expectations.
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More Economy articles in other editions
July 18, 2017 edition
Sri Widuri was taken aback when she saw her electricity bill on the ATM screen early last month. The Cibubur, East Jakarta resident was planning to pay her electricity bill for April, May and June 2017, and was shocked to see an 'unreasonable' bill at over Rp1 million, more than three times her normal bill.
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July 11, 2017 edition
July 4, 2017 edition
Exactly 20 years ago, Southeast Asian financial markets had a meltdown. Now the damage it inflicted has all but disappeared, even in Indonesia, the hardest hit country in the region. Before the Idul Fitri long break two weeks ago, the stock price index reached its highest point in history. Yields for 10-year government bonds also dropped, a sign of stronger investor confidence. The rupiah exchange rate is stable. The market happily took an extended long vacation.
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June 27, 2017 edition