Eight of 11 retailers listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), including food and beverage franchises, cut workforce in the first six months of 2025 as some continue to streamline operations and defend margins amidst lower sales and higher labour costs, our research shows. 

Majority shareholder, represented by sovereign wealth fund Danantara, has dismissed Darmawan Junaidi as president director of Bank Mandiri (BMRI), the largest bank Indonesia by total assets. Darmawan is replaced by Riduan, who was vice president director of the bank.

The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) is now in the process of reactivating more than 25 million dormant bank accounts after previously suspending them without prior notice. The sudden suspension has led to public panic nonetheless, and the government has come under scrutiny for its arbitrary decisions in regard to the rights of the people.

Shares of Telkom (TLKM) and Indosat (ISAT) gained significantly this morning (Friday, Aug 1) despite weak performance in the first half of 2025, presumably due to economic slowdown and squeezed purchasing power.

Shares of Barito Renewables (BREN) opened lower by 0.32% to Rp7,800 this morning. Nothing to do with fundamentals of the company. That price was enough to maintain position as the largest company on Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) by market capitalization despite generating net profit of Rp1 trillion only, 1/29 x of Bank Central Asia (second largest, Rp29 trillion net profit in the first half). 

Indonesia’s manufacturing PMI for July 2025 improved to 49.2 from 46.9 in June, but that means four consecutive month of contraction. This was in line with growing layoffs in the sector.

On August 1, 2025, Indonesia implemented a sweeping overhaul of its crypto taxation regime. Gone is the hybrid mix of Value Added Tax (VAT) and low-rate income tax. A simplified, assertive structure—21 basis points (0.21%) of final income tax on every crypto transaction executed through local exchanges, and a hefty 1% for those conducted on foreign platforms.

Shares of Gudang Garam (GGRM), second largest cigarette maker in Indonesia controlled by Wonowidjojo Family, ended substantially lower by 4.6% to Rp8,825 on Thursday (Jul 31) as investors punished the company for poor financial result in the first half of 2025.

PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya (AMRT) Tbk, operator of Alfamart—market leader in convenience store, cut slightly its investments to Rp2.49 trillion in the first half of 2025 from Rp2.52 trillion in the corresponding period of 2024. United Tractors (UNTR), market leader for heavy equipment and coal mining contracting, meanwhile, cut significantly its investments by 34% to Rp5.4 trillion in the period.

The arrest of Donald Wihardja, Director of MDI Ventures—Telkom Indonesia’s corporate venture capital arm—along with former executives of the agritech startup TaniHub, has thrown into sharp relief the governance crisis brewing in Indonesia’s digital economy. The suspects face charges of corruption and money laundering involving more than US$25 million in state-backed startup funds.