Minister of finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa had his inaugural public hearing with House Commission XI (overseeing financial issues) on Wednesday (Sep 10). His official speech and presentation material were routine and standard, but the Q&A session was lot more interesting, where Purbaya issued statements that raised more eyebrows.

Some companies have earlier ventured into waste-to-energy (WtE) business before President Prabowo Subianto giving full authority for the development of WtE to sovereign wealth fund Danantara. Who might be benefited from Danantara’s Rp50 trillion WtE projects?

The Corruption Eradication Commission’s probe into the 2024 hajj quota is beginning to reshape not only political alignments in Jakarta but also the business ecosystem that underpins Indonesia’s pilgrimage industry. What initially seemed like a ministerial scandal now threatens to reverberate across travel operators, associations, and the financial infrastructure surrounding hajj services.

Indonesian conglomerates (reportedly with financing from state bank) have agreed to subscribe Rp50 trillion ‘Patriot Bonds’ issued by sovereign wealth fund Danantara. Proceeds will be used to finance waste-to-energy (WtE) projects in 33 cities across the nation. 

Property giants PT Ciputra Development Tbk (CTRA) and PT Summarecon Agung (SMRA Tbk reported contrasting results in the first half of 2025. Ciputra enjoyed 20% growth in net profit, while Summarecon suffered almost 35% fall in net profit. 

We’ve been given confirmation by some conglomerates about their participation in the so-called Patriot Bonds issued by sovereign wealth fund Danantara. Usual ‘suspects’ like Prajogo Pangestu (Barito Pacific Group), Garibaldi ‘Boy’ Thohir (co-owner of Adaro Group), and Franky Widjaja (Sinarmas Group) have openly supported the plan and their subscription.

Saved by the bell on Monday, but then saved by gold in the first minutes of trading Tuesday. Composite index of IDX (IHSG) opened briefly lower ground this morning, but then cut losses and returned to positive territory thanks to substantial gains in the shares of gold miners/traders.

For years, state-owned construction giant Waskita Karya was synonymous with toll road projects. The company played a central role in building the Trans-Java toll network, handling sections such as Pejagan–Pemalang, Solo–Ngawi, and Pasuruan–Probolinggo. More than half of the 1,167 kilometers of Trans-Java was developed or managed by Waskita.

Shares of Gudang Garam (GGRM), second largest cigarette maker in Indonesia controlled by Wonowidjojo Family, ended substantially higher by 12.5% to Rp9,900 on Monday (Sep 8) for unknown reason. The stock, however, lost nearly 90% from its all time high in March 2019 due to falling margins from higher tobacco excise. 

Over the weekend, we met two police officers in two areas in West Java province from whom we understand dynamics at very low level in the country’s ‘largest political organization’. From the conversations, we learned about the gap between what’s said and done in our beloved country.