Seven more major companies, those with over 5,000 employees, decided to cut workforce in the first three months of the year, affecting thousands of both permanent and non-permanent workers. They are Astra International, Bank Danamon, BFI Finance, Catur Sentosa Adiprana, HM Sampoerna, Kimia Farma, and FAP Agri. 

United Tractors (UNTR), subsidiary of Astra International (ASII), suffered nearly 80% fall of net profit to Rp642.8 billion in the first quarter of 2026, dragged down by suspension of Martabe gold production and downfall in the construction machinery business.

The recent train collision at Bekasi Timur station exposed deeper issues in Indonesia’s traffic system, extending beyond road-user behavior to the safety of its public transportation infrastructure. In response, President Prabowo Subianto instructed the construction of guard posts and flyovers at 1,800 accident-prone rail crossings in Java, with an estimated budget of Rp4 trillion.

For decades, financial crises have followed familiar scripts. Excessive leverage, poor governance, or external shocks would trigger instability, and regulators—however imperfectly—would step in with tools shaped by past experience. Today, that script is being rewritten. The rise of advanced artificial intelligence, particularly systems developed by Anthropic, is shifting the nature of risk itself—from financial to algorithmic.

Shares of Astra Agro Lestari (AALI) ended lower by 3.3% on Tuesday (Apr 28) on broad market sentiment. The company actually reported stronger performance than peers. It posted net profit of Rp373 billion in the first quarter, jumped by 35% from the same period last year.

Retailers performed relatively stronger in the first quarter 2026, helped by seasonal high spending from Lebaran holidays. Some of the retailers spent more cash in investing activities and hired more workers in the period.

Technology company GOTO Gojek Tokopedia finally reported net profit. In the first quarter of 2026, the company booked net profit of Rp256 billion against loss of Rp283 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Like flag carrier Garuda Indonesia (GIAA), budget airline operator AirAsia reported improvement in the first quarter on higher sales growth and lower maintenance costs.

Global rating agencies have downgraded Indonesia’s outlook from stable to negative, but yet to issue a full sovereign rating downgrade. It is about whether Prabowo administration would be willing to accept reality or facing sovereign rating downgrades.