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Analytical Commentary by Tenggara Strategics

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Jakarta Post
Opinion premium

Analysis: 200 million accounts: Financial inclusion or fiscal excess?

The government’s plan to spend an estimated Rp 11 trillion (US$619 million) opening bank accounts for more than 200 million Indonesians aged 17 and above is difficult to justify when fiscal space is already tight and financial inclusion has reached 93.61 percent. If the objective is to reach the unbanked or improve the delivery of social assistance, there is little reason to give new accounts to almost every adult, including those already banked. Scarce public funds should be targeted at people who actually need them.

21 hours ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Whoosh or noose: Uncertain future of high-speed rail project

Indonesia’s long-standing ambition to build a high-speed rail network has evolved from a national prestige project into a potential fiscal burden. Whoosh’s continuing losses and mounting debt have already drawn the Finance Ministry closer to backstopping the project. Given its history of delays, cost overruns and overly optimistic projections, the question is whether Whoosh can deliver...

1 day ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Danantara, Finance Ministry clash over SOE dividends

The Finance Ministry and state asset fund Danantara are at odds over who controls dividends from state-owned enterprises (SOEs), exposing an unresolved question at the heart of Indonesia's new state-asset architecture. Before Danantara was created, SOE dividends were paid to the state and recorded as non-tax revenue. Under the new framework, Danantara manages the shares and assets transferred ...

2 days ago

The Latest

Opinion premium

Analysis: Constitutional and ethical issues with Jokowi running for VP

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s supporters have figured out another way to extend his political career beyond 2024, namely by having him run as vice president.

3 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Another Islamist party is heading for the rocks ahead of 2024

Trouble is brewing at the United Development Party (PPP), the country’s oldest Islamist party and among the seven parties in the coalition government, after chairman Suharso Monoarfa was toppled by what appears to be a slip of the tongue that offended kiai, the elderly heads of Islamic boarding schools.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Protests over fuel price hike continue but unlikely to be effective

September has been marked by massive waves of street rallies, protesting against the government’s decision to increase subsidized fuel prices

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Govt to develop sorghum amid global wheat scarcity

The global wheat supply chain disruption induced by the Russia-Ukraine conflict has highlighted Indonesia’s dependence on wheat imports.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Supporters keep hope alive for Jokowi to stay beyond 2024

Die-hard supporters of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo held a congress in Bandung on Aug. 28 to keep their hopes alive for him to continue to serve the nation beyond 2024 when his current term in office ends, in defiance of the constitutional two-term limit.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Puan makes last dash in 2024 presidential bid

House Speaker Puan Maharani is making high-profile public appearances and increasingly playing the woman card in a bid to boost her electability, which has remained stubbornly low in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Jokowi seeks to circumvent courts in resolving human rights violations

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has set up a team to resolve past serious human rights violations without going through courts of law, prompting some civil society organizations to accuse the government of trying to absolve the perpetrators of any guilt.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Jokowi urges SOEs, INA to enter Masela gas block to jumpstart project

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has urged state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) to enter the huge but stalled Masela gas block in Maluku to jumpstart the US$20 billion project. Many, however, have questioned the motive behind the move.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Third time lucky? Prabowo to contest presidential race again

Prabowo Subianto officially confirmed his bid to run for president in 2024 at the Gerindra Party’s national leadership meeting (Rapimnas) last weekend.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: PLN pushes for an entity to collect coal levies as supply recedes

Coal-supply crisis looms over the state-owned electricity company (PLN) again as businesses prefer to export their coal than to meet their domestic market obligation (DMO) amid skyrocketing commodity prices.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Indonesia-US war games become Gen. Andhika’s pet project

This year’s joint military exercise between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the United States armed forces are called “Super Garuda Shield”, indicating that the war games have been expanded to involve a total of 14 countries as well as the naval and air forces, instead of just the army.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Vaccine importers make huge gains from FMD outbreak

Nearly two months after the first foot and mouth disease (FMD) case was reported, the government finally started the cattle vaccination program for 60.6 vaccine shots in 2022-2023.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Much work to be done in new Papuan provinces

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo officially enacted three laws establishing new Papuan provinces – South Papua, Central Papua and the Papua Highlands – on July 25.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Hopes for peace dim as Papuan armed group step up attacks

Violence in Papua has taken a new twist after chilling video footage showing members of a Papuan armed group beheading a man in Bintang Mountains regency circulated on July 19.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Big gas reserve found in the Aceh sea amid departing global oil firms

A large gas deposit was discovered recently near the coast of Aceh. The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry described the discovery as potentially one of the largest in the world.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Government faces dilemma over raising subsidized fuel prices

The government is scratching its head over whether to increase subsidized fuel prices. The surging global prices of crude oil has forced the government to provide more energy subsidies this year.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: National Police credibility on the line over death of junior cop

The death of a junior police officer has caught the nation’s attention this past week, with the media and the public increasingly skeptical of the National Police’s claim he had been killed in a gunfight with another lower-ranking officer after he tried to sexually assault the wife of Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo, the chief of internal affairs.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Govt adopts mandatory B35 biodiesel program as CPO prices tumble

The reversal of crude palm oil (CPO) prices to below US$900 per ton and its repercussions in the domestic market have forced the government to take yet another drastic measure to help the commodity by advancing the B35 biodiesel mandatory program later this month.

4 years ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Anies’ presidential hope hinges on NasDem. Will it deliver?

Opinion polls on the 2024 presidential election show that Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan is among the most popular public figures, but his nomination remains clouded by uncertainty.

4 years ago
Business

Analysis: China and US economies diverge over coronavirus response

China’s exports have been stronger than expected, bolstered by demand for medical goods overseas.

5 years ago
Business

Analysis: What monopoly case? US lawsuit unlikely to knock Google from pole position

Antitrust specialists see the upcoming action as more of a tremor than an earthquake.

5 years ago
Business premium

Analysis: Anticipating economic challenges after COVID-19

Indonesia, while not officially in recession yet, is predicted to record another contraction in the third quarter of 2020. In the preceding quarter the economy shrank 5.32 percent year-on-year (yoy).

5 years ago
Business premium

Analysis: Assessment of COVID-19 recovery programs

So how can the government quickly respond to safeguard the citizen’s while keeping economic activities running and ensuring the road to recovery is equally inclusive and justifiable? The government must be aware that the key factor to it is to ensure the wellbeing of its people, protect the poor and vulnerable and make sure that business continues to support the economic recovery after the COVID pandemic.

6 years ago
Business premium

Analysis: Recovery of CPO demand

One of the indicators that show improved demand is export volume from major producing countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia's CPO export volume in June and July 2020 were 2.1 and 2.4 million tons respectively, the same volume as Indonesia’s CPO exports in June and July 2019.

6 years ago
Business premium

Analysis: Mitigating inequality during COVID-19

The extent of the damage the pandemic has had on social and economic life is beyond comprehension.

6 years ago
Global

Analysis: South Korea leader again buys time, but failure looms

She pulled off a deft bit of political maneuvering, probably born of desperation. Now South Korea's president has a sliver of breathing space as impeachment closes in and millions throng the streets to clamor for her to just go away.

9 years ago
Global

Analysis: Obama hopes Clinton can fix what he could not

Eight years ago, Barack Obama cast himself as the rare candidate who could transcend the polarizing "politics of the past" and bridge divides that had left Washington barely functioning for years. Ultimately, the gulf was too wide — if anything, the political climate in the United States worsened.

10 years ago
SEAsia

Analysis: China emerges more muscular after ASEAN meetings

Daring to take on China in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, the Philippines went to an international tribunal for justice, and won big. But it turned out to be a pyrrhic victory.

10 years ago
SEAsia

Analysis: South China Sea ruling has so far fueled tensions

It's a ruling that China cannot accept, and one that the Philippines must.

10 years ago
Global

Analysis: Trump and Clinton: Contrasts in Orlando response

For Donald Trump, Sunday's mass shooting in Florida was a moment to redouble his call for tougher action against terrorism and to take credit for "being right" about the threat. For Hillary Clinton, it was a time to choose words carefully and reiterate her call for keeping "weapons of war" off America's streets.

10 years ago
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