STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. Finance Minister and Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) Chair Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the committee continues to monitor developments in the banking crisis in the United States and Europe, especially Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the United States and Credit Suisse in Switzerland.
The committee has just finished a stress test on Indonesia’s financial system to prepare itself to create a buffer that will decrease turmoil.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said many private investors are looking to finance Indonesia’s energy transition mechanism to support zero carbon emissions. She expressed hope for the private sector to provide the best funding for Indonesia’s two energy transition mechanisms, including emission reduction facilities and investing in the development of environmentally friendly energy facilities.
In the gala seminar “Enhancing Policy Calibration for Macro-Financial Resilience” in Nusa Dua, Bali, Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo said the bankruptcy of European and three U.S. banks, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate, had an effect on the investment sector.
Many investors, in Perry’s opinion, decide against and hold their capital for investments in developing countries. BI, the Financial Services Authority (OJK), the Finance Ministry, and the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) all closely monitored this occurrence as a result.
ASEAN countries will look at the spillover from the current global banking problems, Bank Indonesia (BI) Deputy Governor Dody Budy Waluyo said during a media briefing in Bali. The fall of global banking began with the collapse of one of the U.S. central banks, Silicon Valley Bank, which affected another U.S. bank, Signature Bank.
More recently, banks in Europe, such as Credit Suisse (Switzerland) and Deutsche Bank (Germany), also followed suit. Thus, the banking issue will be one of the backgrounds for discussion on the global economy at the first ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting during the Indonesian chairmanship. Other participants at the meeting will comprise several international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), that will raise various global development issues.
Indonesia’s Downstream Industry Plan Needs $545.3b Till 2040 Indonesia would need a total of $545.3 billion in investment until 2040 to develop downstream industries across 8 priority sectors, including minerals and forestry, according to a government roadmap.
Indonesia has had enough of exporting raw materials. The Southeast Asian country is now working towards industrial downstream in which it processes its raw materials into products of higher value. But this plan does not come cheap.
An Investment Ministry roadmap shows that Indonesia’s ambitious downstream project would require an investment of $545.3 billion over the next decades.
The Indonesian government has officially decided to resume rice imports. Through an assignment letter, the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Chair Arief Prasetyo Adi ordered Perum Bulog to import two million tons of rice until December 2023. In the letter of assignment, Arief said that the first batch of 500,000 tons would be imported immediately. He said that the additional rice supply could be used for the rice Food Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) program.
The imported rice can also be used to provide food assistance to 21.3 million families who are beneficiaries of the government’s social aid program. Arief said that several countries, including India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand, were among the targeted rice importing countries.
According to Indonesian Political Economy Association (AEPI) agricultural observer Khudori, the government’s decision to import two million tons of rice by the end of 2023 is a difficult and bitter step. The choice to import rice during the great harvest, in Khudori’s opinion, is a very unusual occurrence.
This is due to the fact that the choice was made at the height of the rice harvest, when supplies of grain and/or rice are typically plentiful and prices are declining, he said.
In Jakarta, President Jokowi presided over a meeting on the availability of staples and preparation for the 1444 Hijri year homecoming season when the decision was made. The government assigned state logistics company Bulog to import two million tons of rice through the National Food Agency.
Labor Party President Said Iqbal said one of the actions to reject the ratification of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 2/2022 on job creation into law is by holding demonstrations every week. The protest will begin next Tuesday, April 4. The demonstration will be held in front of the House of Representatives building and will be attended by members of the Labor Party and various trade union organizations.
The National Transportation Workers Union (SBTN) deputy Burhanuddin stated that members of the union will go on strike in protest against the House of Representatives which passed the Job Creation Law on March 21.
He threatened to conduct a mass strike that will cripple one of the country’s largest and busiest seaports, Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati at the House Commission XI working meeting clarified that out of the IDR349 trillion in suspicious transactions previously reported by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) to the ministry in 300 letters, only IDR3.3 trillion really involved the ministry employees.
She said that the others were corporate transactions that did not involve the employees. Sri Mulyani also addressed the cooperation between her ministry and PPATK. For the first time, she said she received a compilation letter from PPATK.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) launched an investigation into an alleged corruption case at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry related to the employees’ performance allowance at the Ministry’s Directorate General. More than one suspect has been named in this case.
The anti-graft commission’s spokesperson Ali Fikri said the commission conducted a search at the Ministry’s Minerals and Coal Directorate General office on Monday. Ali asserted that state losses are estimated to reach hundreds of billions.
“We are sure that there is more than one suspect, and this is related to the unofficial cut of the performance allowance amounting to around tens of billions,” said Ali at the KPK’s Merah Putih Building, Jakarta.
