|
You can search the blog with our simple search below, or use the extended functions of the Google search engine to search for blog articles you are looking for.
|
|
|

Indonesians will enjoy lower fuel, cooking gas and cement prices next week, yet prices of other goods and services may not immediately follow suit as business struggle with a weakening currency and high distribution costs.
|
|
|

The House of Representatives (DPR RI) agreed to slash the budget of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) by Rp46.47 billion as part of efforts to cut budgets at 86 ministries and government institutions in 2014.
|
|
|

The State Enterprises Ministry must evaluate the performance of state electricity company, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), following power cuts in several parts of Jakarta on Monday, noted a lawmaker.
|
|
|

Schapelle Leigh Corby, finally walked free under a parole on Monday morning from her jail in Bali where she had spent two third of her prison term for drug smuggling. Corby,36, from Queensland, Australia, walked out of Kerobokan prison in Denpasar at 08.00 western local time under heavy police guard .
|
|
|

Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said the government would not cut the Education and Culture Ministry`s budget as part of its plan to reduce ministries` swelling expenditures.
|
|
|

A wild monkey attacked and killed a six-month old baby in Menaming village, Rambang Sub-district, Rokan Hulu District, Riau province, on Friday (March 29), a village head said. "It was a horrible and sad event for the baby`s family," Menaming Village Head Firdaus Daulay said here.
|
|
|

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has cut the sentence of Australian drugs convict Schapelle Leigh Corby by five years, Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi confirmed here on Tuesday.
|
|
|

Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said that the government would not implement its restrictions on the use of subsidized gasoline as of May 1, as preparations for the implementation are still underway.
|
|
|

Raising the present gasoline price will be a more realistic policy than the government's plan to limit subsidized fuel oil consumption to reduce its subsidy burden, an economist here said.
|
|
|

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has agreed that the government should stop granting sentence remissions for corruption and terrorism convicts.
|
|
|

The Southeast Asian (SEA) Games are being threatened just two months before their inauguration as Indonesia's budget cuts and lack of funds are impeding the games' preparations, local media reported on Friday.
|
|
|

Indonesia announced on Wednesday that it will appeal the three-year jail sentence given to a Saudi Arabian woman for torturing her Indonesian maid, local media reported on Thursday.
|
|
|

The volcanic activity of the Mount Bromo volcano in East Java province has caused heavy damage to the tourism industry in the area. The volcanic ash, emitted by the volcano, covers a large area where normally people make a living from tourists. The areas most heavily hit are Cemorolawang, Ngadisari and Probolinggo.
|
|
|

Indonesia on Friday announced that its government is considering putting a hold on dispatching workers to Saudi Arabia as international outrage has surrounded the case of a tortured Indonesian maid, officials said.
|
|
|

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the State Minister for Women and Child Protection Linda Agum Gumelar to travel to Saudi Arabia in order to oversee the investigation into the torture of an Indonesian maid, officials said Thursday.
|
|
|

As Bali's program of rotating black outs enters its third month, public displeasure with the service, or lack thereof, from the state-owned power company (PLN) continues to mount, fueled further by the inability of PLN to publish an accurate schedule of power cuts.
|
|
|

Women wearing jeans and other trousers in the regency of West Aceh, in North Sumatra, will have to face the regional Sharia police. Vendors of trousers for women will also have to close down. The regent for West Aceh, Ramli, has issued the new controversial Islamic regulation yesterday. People who disobey, will be forced to wear loose-fitting attire when Sharia police cuts their trousers.
|
|
|

The board of governors of Bank Indonesia have decided yesterday that the benchmark interest rate was to be lowered with 25 basis points to 6.50 percent per year. "This decision was made after the board of governors concluded that the declining inflation rate continues in line with the limited domestic demand as well as the expectation of declining inflation," said Bank Indonesia in a statement.
|
|
|

A teenage US-Indonesian model has returned to her family in Indonesia with tales of abuse, rape and torture at the hands of a Malaysian prince, after her dramatic escape with the help of Singapore police. Manohara Odelia Pinot, 17, told reporters she was treated like a sex slave after her marriage to Tengku Temenggong Mohammad Fakhry, the prince of Malaysia's Kelantan state, last year.
|
|
|

The Indonesian central bank on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by a half percentage point to 7.75 percent to boost economic growth and reduce unemployment, the bank said in a statement. Easing inflation and the fall of overseas sales have triggered governor Boediono and his seven colleagues to reduce the rate, which is more than the expected 25 basis points.
|
|
|

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced subsidized-oil prices cuts to boost purchasing power. The move is Indonesia's latest effort to cushion the deepening fallout of the global recession, following the fall of global oil price up to over 40 U.S. dollars per barrel after reaching record of 147 U.S. dollars a barrel in July.
|
|
|

The Indonesian central bank Wednesday slashed its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 8.75 percent following the good outlook of inflation to spur growth, according to a statement by the bank. The 50 basis point cut is in line with the recent demand from the government and business sector, as the country has decided to rely much on the huge domestic market following the fall of demand of its products in overseas.
|
|
|

Indonesia’s parliament has passed a long-awaited law cutting corporate and personal income tax rates to broaden the country’s relatively tiny tax base and stimulate economic growth. Analysts hailed the legislation as a major milestone in Indonesia’s transition to a more business-friendly market. But they cautioned that further reforms are needed, particularly in labour regulations and the legal sector, to improve the investment climate.
|
|
|

The Indonesian economy is expected to have grown at its fastest pace in 2007 since the country was hit by the Asian financial crisis 11 years ago, driven mostly by private consumption. Falling interest rates, a strong financial market performance, and an increase in pay for civil servants are expected to have underpinned the recovery in purchasing power, said Destry Damayanti, an economist at Mandiri Securities.
|
|
|

Leaders from many governments started to arrive in Bali on Sunday for what is expected to be a lengthly and contentious negotiation on how to fight global warming. It is believed that global warming can cause a devastating rise in sea levels, which would send hundreds of millions of people into poverty and cause mass extinction of animals.
|
|
|

Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, said that the government would not raise fuel prices next year despite a 17 percent cut in fuel subsidy spending calculated in the 2008 state budget. Fuel subsidy is to be cut to 46.7 trillion Rupiah (3.68 billion euro), down from 56.4 trillion Rupiah (4.44 billion euro) this year.
|
|
|

Indonesia's economy grew at the fastest rate for over two years in the second quarter as exports rose and lower interest rates helped fuel spending and investment. The largest economy of Southeast Asia expanded 6.3 percent in the three months ending at 30 June after gaining 6.0 percent in the first quarter of the year, according to the Central Statistics Bureau BPS. Economists had expected a growth of 6.1 percent.
|
|
|

Officials on the island of Sumatra asked for patience on Saturday after telling that relief aid for the people left homeless after twin earthquakes had been handed out to people who did not need it. Many people living in remote areas away from cities have complained about upcoming food shortages after Tuesdays twin earthquakes that killed more than 70 people in the area.
|
|
|

Dozens of victims of the twin earthquakes in western Sumatra were buried on Wednesday as aid flowed in for thousands of displaced when their homes were flattened during the quakes. Disaster management told that 72 people were killed in these quakes, which were also felt in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore. Many had to spend a night in the open, frightened of another earthquake.
|
|
|

The powerful twin earthquake that hit western Sumatra earlier Tuesday killed at least 26 people. It also flattened hundreds of buildings. Hospitals in the area are flooded with wounded according to officials and witnesses. Under the collapsed buildings are a building of the BRI (government bank), a traditional market and some schools. Not all casualties from those sites are counted as some buildings are ablaze.
|
|
|

Fears of strengthening monsoons in Asia could spell trouble for parts of Australia and Indonesia which will see longer and more frequent droughts in the future, according to a study published in Nature on Thursday. By examining the chemical makeup of corals off Indonesia's Sumatra island, researchers found that stronger monsoons in Asia 6,500 years ago led to greater ocean cooling in the eastern Indian Ocean, which reduced evaporation and, in turn increased the droughts in Indonesia and Australia.
|
|
|

As the tropical monsoon clouds roll in, obscuring the towering volcanos along the Bali coastline, the pristine neighboring island of Lombok seems a world away from Indonesia's premier tourist destination. In fact, it almost is.
|
|
|

Jakarta's main stock index is set for further heady gains this year, supported by improving economic conditions, firm commodity prices and subdued inflation which should give corporate earnings a boost, encouraging fresh capital into the sharemarket, analysts said. They are picking a gain of between 16-43 pct, after last year's 55 pct surge, which saw the composite index repeatedly setting new records to finish 2006 at an all-time high of 1,805.522 points.
|
|
|

The only suspect in the poisoning death of Indonesia's most prominent human rights activist was freed from prison after receiving a month's reduction in his sentence as part of Christmas celebrations, a prison official said Tuesday. Pollycarpus Priyanto, a 45-year-old pilot, was originally sentenced to 14 years on charges of putting a fatal dose of arsenic in Munir Thalib's food while the human rights campaigner was on a flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam two years ago.
|
|
|

Indonesia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to a 14-month low, the seventh reduction since May, to help revive consumer spending and boost investment. Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah and his fellow policy makers reduced the rate used as a reference for bill sales by half a percentage point to 9.75 percent, a move predicted by 16 of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, and indicated further cuts are likely next year.
|
|
|

Indonesia’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the sixth time since May and said borrowing costs may be reduced again in December, after inflation slowed to a two-year low and the currency strengthened. Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah and his fellow policy makers cut the rate used as a reference for bill sales by half a percentage point to 10.25%.
|
|
|

Indonesia's central bank will probably cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point, the sixth reduction since May, to help revive consumer spending after inflation slowed to a two-year low. Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah and his fellow policy makers will cut the rate used as a reference for bills sales to 10.25 percent, according to 15 of 16 economists in a Bloomberg survey. One expects a reduction to 10 percent. The central bank decision is due in Jakarta tomorrow.
|
|
|

Jemaah Islamiah terrorists and Australian drug offenders will spend more years in jail with Indonesia deciding to curtail their sentence remissions. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has approved regulations forcing all terrorists, drug offenders and prisoners convicted of several other serious crimes to serve at least two-thirds of their original sentences. They will not be eligible for regular remissions issued to other prisoners until they have served at least a third of their jail terms.
|
|
|

The Indonesian central bank said Friday it may further cut the benchmark interest rate to 10 percent by the end of the year. Earlier this week, Bank Indonesia cut the interest rate by 50 basis points to 11.25 percent. "We are confident that, between now and the end of the year, the inflation will be contained below 7 percent and Bank Indonesia interest rate will move to 10 percent," Bank Indonesia deputy governor Aslim Tadjuddin told reporters here.
|
|
|

The tsunami that ripped through the south coast of Indonesia's West Java province landed a brutal blow on the economy of this popular beach resort, in a country where tourism has already been reeling from bombs, bird flu and earthquakes. Monday's tsunami left the beach front at Pangandaran, formerly clustered with hotels and souvenir shops, looking like a war zone.
|
|
|

At least 200 people were killed and thousands injured when a strong earthquake rocked the densely-populated southern coast of Indonesia's Central Java, hospitals said. At least 200 people were killed and thousands injured when a strong earthquake rocked the densely-populated southern coast of Indonesia's Central Java, hospitals said.
|
|
|

Most of the social welfare programs created by the government following the fuel subsidy cuts are missing their proper targets, a report released by a group of social workers says. The report showed the four main programs -- the School Operational Aid (BOS) scheme, costing Rp 6.7 trillion; the Health Insurance plan, at Rp 3.8 trillion; the Rp 3.4 trillion Village Infrastructure Development program; and the Direct Cash Aid program costing Rp 6.5 trillion -- were not being distributed properly.
|
|
|

State power company PLN on Wednesday began cutting power to Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and North Sumatra provinces for two hours a day, again leaving residents in the dark after a year of regular blackouts in 2005. The rolling blackouts, which will continue over the next 52 days, will take place during peak usage hours, between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., according to the company's spokesman in North Sumatra, Agus Muliadi.
|
|
|

Indonesia has banned three films about its long and bloody occupation of East Timor, saying that if local audiences were to see them it could "reopen old wounds" as the two countries try to move forward. The films had been scheduled for screenings at a film festival last month in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, but were pulled at the last minute.
|
|
|

The Indonesian Government has refused the jailed extremist cleric Abu Bakar Bashir a further reduction of his sentence. Bashir is serving 30 months in jail for his role in the 2002 Bali bar bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. On major holidays Indonesia normally reduces sentences of prisoners who have shown good behaviour, and Bashir has benefited from such cuts.
|
|
|

Indonesian police last night released grisly photos of the three men they believe launched a trio of suicide bomb attacks in Bali as chilling amateur video footage captured the final moments before one youth triggered one of the blasts.
|
|
|

In the wake of a two-month "mini crisis" that saw the rupiah hit a four-year low of 11,750 per dollar on August 30, Jakarta has finally announced an imminent and substantial reduction in fuel subsidies. The exact date and the level of cuts have yet to be announced, though there is widespread speculation over both. Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said fuel prices may rise as early as October 1 while National Development Planning Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said an increase in November would be too late to help reduce subsidies to the level of Rp89.2 trillion. She said fuel prices might increase by at least 50% in October.
|
|
|

Indonesia's looming fuel price increases Saturday will power protests that will bruise, but not cripple, the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, analysts say.
A government compensation plan and timing of the fuel price increase for the eve of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan will help defuse public anger over the cut in price subsidies that have given Indonesians some of the cheapest fuel in the world for decades.
|
|
|

Indonesia's central bank raised its benchmark rate 50 basis points to 10.00% Tuesday, Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah told reporters at a media briefing. "The increase in the Bank Indonesia rate is in response to the central bank's policy to consistently guide inflationary expectations," Burhanuddin said.
|
|
|

The government of Indonesia has decided to reward the prisoners in Aceh who chose not to escape from their jails when they were destroyed during last December's tsunami, by having their sentences halved. To mark the country's independence day on August 17, Indonesia's justice and human rights minister, Hamid Awaluddin, has said 300 prisoners in the Aceh province will be rewarded in this way, according to a Radio Australia report.
|
|
|

Indonesia's crude oil production fell to the lowest level in 34 years in May to 936,000 barrels per day (bpd), from 953,000 bpd a month earlier, due to repairs on several wells, an industry source said on Monday.
|
|
|

INDONESIA'S parliament today placed itself on a collision course with the country's president, urging him to review a controversial fuel price hike that has sparked nationwide protests.
|
|
|

A fuel hike that will hit Indonesia's poor hard came into effect Tuesday, but the expected large-scale demonstrations failed to materialize as the government promised to beef-up anti-poverty assistance programs. The government announced late Monday it was cutting fuel subsidies, amounting to an average 29 percent increase in prices from gasoline to diesel oil. Fuel prices have been a sensitive topic since riots over a price hike in 1998 hastened the collapse of former President Suharto's dictatorship.
|
|
|

Hundreds of Indonesian students have held rallies around the country to protest against rising fuel prices. The increases, of up to 30%, were announced by officials on Monday. The government said it was forced to act after spending more than $6bn in fuel subsidies last year, because of soaring world oil prices. The price of fuel is a sensitive political issue in Indonesia. Fuel protests even contributed to the downfall of former President Suharto.
|
|
|

A lack of water is preventing firefighters in Indonesia's tsunami-devastated city of Banda Aceh from getting close to a raging blaze. Firefighters say the fire, spanning at least three kilometers (1.5 miles), was possibly caused by residents burning garbage. The Associated Press reports that while no one was living in the area, about 100 former residents were in the vicinity trying to salvage belongings and looking for missing loved ones.
|
|
|

Indonesia said Monday it plans to establish an early warning system for disasters with its neighbors, as its death toll from last week's earthquake and tsunami jumped to almost 100,000. Indonesia, which suffered the most death and destruction in last week's disaster, will host a conference later this week of nations hit and major aid donors that is likely to focus on how best to deliver relief efforts.
|
|
|

Indonesia plans to cut its corporate tax rate starting next year to spur investment and growth, said Aburizal Bakrie, the coordinating minister for economic affairs. The tax rate will be cut to 25 percent from 30 percent over a period of five years, starting with a one percentage-point reduction in 2005, Bakrie said Tuesday.
|
|
|
The government says it will gradually liberalize the domestic fuel market over the next five years, with the aim of completely eliminating costly fuel subsidies by 2010. "In the year 2010, fuel prices will be determined by the mechanism of healthy and appropriate competition, and the government will only give special help to replace subsidies for certain fuels," Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro was quoted as saying Monday (29/11/04) by detikcom online news portal.
|
|
|

Indonesia plans to eradicate spending on fuel subsidies next year, except for products widely used by the poor, to ease pressure on the state budget, Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Tuesday. "Our expectation is that we must eliminate subsidies on bunker oil, premium gasoline and industrial diesel," he told reporters.
|
|
|

A half-man, half-beast, dubbed the "kolor ijo" or "green underpants", has been blamed for stalking Jakarta's outskirts, attacking people with its claws and raping lone women.
Terrified residents set up special kolor ijo patrol squads, while others draped their homes in magic talismans to ward off the creature.
|
|
|

The government announced on Friday that the new tourist visa policy will start on Feb. 1, despite strong opposition from the tourism and hospitality sectors. Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that President Megawati Soekarnoputri had approved this month the presidential decree on visas.
|
|
|

A candid home-grown tale featuring gay kissing has become an unlikely box office hit in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, challenging and wowing audiences in equal measure. Playing to packed cinemas in Jakarta, "Arisan!" is a satirical comedy mocking the life of the rich in the nation's capital and tackling the taboo subject of homosexuality.
|
|
|

The government has again postponed the implementation of the new policy revoking the visa-on-arrival facility extended to nationals of 48 countries, saying the President must consider opposition from tourism industry players. The implementation of the controversial policy had earlier been delayed on Oct. 1 because its operational regulations had not yet been issued.
|
|
|

The government has decided to press ahead with its plan for massive lay-offs at ailing state aircraft maker Dirgantara Indonesia despite angry protests by employees of the virtually bankrupt company. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti said the decision was reached at a limited cabinet meeting on Thursday.
|
|
|

After five years under the harsh tutelage of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, is to break free from the IMF's bailout program and loan lifeline at the end of this year when its US$5 billion line of credit expires. A government committee has drafted an economic blueprint, a White Paper for post-IMF Indonesia that will be revealed on Friday, simultaneously with the draft budget for 2004, by President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
|
|
|
Fuel subsidies have long been a thorny problem for various Indonesian governments. Attempts to reduce the level of these subsidies by increasing domestic fuel prices have often been met by protests, forcing the price hike to be reversed. In January 2003, the government again tried to increase fuel prices, and was again forced to back down by public protests. In this article , Dr. Bachrawi Sanusi takes an indepth look at the issue:
|
|
|

Companies that were once proof of American entrepreneurial skill are having to retreat in the face of a boycott by Muslims of US products in protest against the US's support for Israel. Although it is not sanctioned by Muslim governments, which are fearful of American reprisals, the boycott has hit such American giants as McDonald's, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, Coke and Pepsi.
|
|
|

Indonesia's government cut selected fuel and electricity prices after recent hikes sparked popular protests last week, but tried to appease its international creditors by saying the move won't have any effect on the 2003 budget.
Indonesia pushed fuel and electricity prices higher this month as part of a policy to slash the budget deficit under an International Monetary Fund approved reform program.
|
|
|
 Protests against price increases of up to 22 percent for basic services turned violent Thursday, with police shooting two demonstrators in one city and using batons against rock throwers in the capital. For the fourth day, thousands of students, workers and activists demonstrated in at least 15 cities against price increases for fuel, telephone and electricity. They chanted anti-government slogans, burned tires, hijacked an empty fuel truck and demanded the removal of the current government.
|
|
|

Foreigners are waiting anxiously at Bali international airport for a flight home as a potentially devastating exodus began building up following the horrendous bomb attack on two bars packed with tourists, many of them Australian. Italian tourist Simone Tedeschi said he was at the Sari Club on Bali's famous tourist drag in Kuta last night when the huge car bomb went off, killing at least 182 people.
|
|
|
The president director of the State Electricity Company (PLN), Eddie Widiono, seems to be clairvoyant. Two years ago, at a seminar on electricity in Jakarta, he made a prediction that by 2003, Java-Bali would be shrouded in darkness. The reason: scarce electricity supply due to minimum PLN investments. Widiono's estimate might just be optimistic. On September 12, Asep, a resident of Cibinong, Bogor, nearly had a heart attack. A huge explosion shook his house, followed a second later by total darkness. The thundering noise came directly from next door, an electrical relay station handling extremely high voltages. Rushing outside, Asep saw one of the poles inside the station burning. "Wow, the noise was totally deafening, just like a bomb," he said. "Then there were fireworks and a sharp burning smell," he said.
|
|
|
The Indonesian government will soon decide whether to impose a state of emergency in Aceh, the rebellious and resource-rich region on the tip of Sumatra island. But if Jakarta were serious about ending the separatist rebellion in Aceh, it would not be talking about a military solution. It would be talking instead about ending corruption, upholding the law, and making the conflict less profitable for all parties concerned. Now more than ever, the war in Aceh is about money, and no one is clean. An autonomy law, adopted last year, has created a giant slush fund for provincial officials from oil and gas revenues, with no effective controls over how the money is spent. Every day, the local press carries stories about misspent funds, missing budget allocations, suspected cronyism, or crooked contractors.
|
|
|
Members of the Penan tribe of northeastern Borneo know that Batu Lawi, a 2,000-m sheer limestone pinnacle, is a demon-haunted place to be avoided at all costs. To Bruno Manser, however, Batu Lawi represented everything he loved about the untouched forest of the region. He almost perished trying to reach its summit in 1988. As he told friends, he spent 24 hours hanging from a rope, unable to reach the rock face. Only a desperate swing brought him within grabbing distance of the rock.
|
|
|
It's the road from nowhere, but it's surprisingly busy. Mafalda Florindo and Isabella Antonine walk along it, smiling betel-stained grins as they talk about cloth they had just bought for a good price. A little farther, Alicin Soares, a rice grower, maneuvers his truck along the dusty track. His vehicle is filled with people, some of them smoking, and five jerricans of gasoline. Later Antonio Serrano arrives in a van filled with Coke and Fanta, 50 cases in all, to be sold at a tidy profit of $1 a case. He does the trip every day.
|
|
|

The rupiah faces a bleak outlook again this week as anticipation of a political showdown between President Abdurrahman Wahid and his opponents at the end of this month is expected to further spur dollar buying, analysts predict.
|
|
|
|
BLOG ARCHIVE |
· 2015, 28 entries
· 2014, 591 entries
· 2013, 750 entries
· 2012, 1061 entries
· 2011, 792 entries
· 2010, 644 entries
· 2009, 916 entries
· 2008, 504 entries
· 2007, 725 entries
· 2006, 1014 entries
· 2005, 723 entries
· 2004, 558 entries
· 2003, 525 entries
· 2002, 375 entries
· 2001, 162 entries
|
POPULAR TAGS |
Automatically generated every hour
|
|