Market

This year’s Ramadan serves as the first test for President Prabowo Subianto’s administration in balancing ceremonial traditions with the commitment to budget efficiency that has been emphasized since the beginning of his government. Across various ministries and institutions, events such as communal iftar gatherings, Ramadan safaris, and social aid distributions are still packaged as official ceremonies attended by high-ranking state officials.

Shares of Amman Mineral (AMMN), the second largest gold and copper miner in Indonesia, surged by 9.17% to Rp6,250 on Thursday (Mar 20) as investors responded positively the company’s strong financial performance in 2024.

Kontan business paper’s news portal posted an interesting article about President Prabowo’s ambitious program to build 3 million houses per annum. While the program was greeted with enthusiasm by public, including property developers, the president has not mentioned a single word on this program in his speeches.

Composite index of Indonesia Stock Exchange/IDX (IHSG/JKSE) ended higher by 1.42% Wednesday (Mar 19), but this was attributable to ‘recovery’ of the highly inflated stocks like Data Center Indonesia (DCII), Chandra Asri (TPIA), Barito Renewables (BREN), and Pantai Indah Kapuk Dua (PANI).

Personal care producer PT Mandom Indonesia Tbk (TCID) booked net loss of Rp124.7 billion last year against net profit of Rp38.12 billion in 2023. Unilever Indonesia (UNVR), a substantially bigger personal care player, recorded net profit of Rp3.37 trillion last year despite lower sales revenues like Mandom. What’s going on?

It is rather easy for Indonesian government to prevent a market crash or pumping up the index. They only need ‘support’ from Anthoni Salim (and his business partners) and Prajogo Pangestu, which controls or jointly-controlling nearly 30% of the combined ‘market value’ of stocks listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). 

Indonesian police has a new tasking: monitoring movement of equities in the stock market. Following substantial corrections in the composite index of Indonesia Stock Exchange (IHSG), the national police’s detectives (Bareskrim) have been deployed to find the culprits behind downfall of some stocks, which dragged down the index.

The House of Representatives (DPR) has on Thursday (March 20) deliberated a new law on the Indonesian military (TNI), ignoring opposition and criticism from civil society, democracy activists and students. Other than expanding the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs, the new law extends mandatory retirement age of military officers between two and seven years.

We’re witnessing contrasts between Vietnam and Indonesia in handling bureaucracy and efficiency measures. While Vietnam plans to reduce 20% workforce in the public sector in the next five years, Indonesia hires more than 1.1 million civil servants this year alone.