The Jakarta Post
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsthe-brief
Opinion 1 month ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: The threshold fight: What 5 percent debate means for 2029
The House of Representatives is entering its most consequential electoral reform since 2017. As Commission II drafts a new Election Law for 2029, the fault line is already clear: the legislative threshold.
Opinion 1 month ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: RI’s illegal cigarette trade A problem of enforcement and incentives
Indonesia's illegal cigarette trade has long deprived the state of revenue and undermined formal producers. Recent allegations that people linked to a House of Representatives legislator sold counterfeit excise stamps, however, suggest that illicit trade may also involve those with access to formal institutions. The case raises questions about how illegal cigarettes keep circulating through counterfeit branding, informal distribution and alleged collusion, even as authorities tighten enforcement and regulation.
Opinion 1 month ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Land agency graft probe puts high-profile figures in spotlight
Indonesia has barely had time to digest one high-profile corruption scandal before another has breached the surface, this time striking at the heart of the country's land administration. The latest case centers on the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry/National Land Agency (BPN). A sweeping bribery probe by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has ensnared senior bureaucrats, a prominent property developer and multiple operatives identified as close associates of minister Nusron Wahid, a Golkar politician.
Opinion 1 month ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Indonesia’s tax revenue: Mirage or miracle
Indonesia’s economy has recently received a welcome piece of good news, with the latest state budget figures showing a sharp increase in tax revenue. Net tax revenue rose by a remarkable 24.1 percent year-on-year as of August 2026, reaching Rp 1.409 quadrillion (US$79 billion), or 59.8 percent of the full-year target. Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara attributed the increase to higher global oil and gas prices, strong domestic consumption and improvements in the Coretax system.
Opinion 1 month ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Everything but the rate: BI balances growth, rupiah stability
Bank Indonesia (BI) opted to keep monetary policy supportive of growth on Sept. 23, holding its benchmark rate at 5.75 percent despite the United States Federal Reserve’s rate hike a week earlier. The decision, Governor Destry Damayanti’s second consecutive hold, reflects BI’s expanded mandate to support economic growth and job creation. Rather than raising rates to defend the rupiah, BI strengthened incentives for investors to hedge their currency exposure, seeking to balance growth with exchange-rate stability.
Opinion 1 month ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: Haji Isam’s Bayan deal lands, exposing coal mining’s risks
The proposed acquisition of a 30 percent stake in PT Bayan Resources (BYAN) by Jhonlin Baratama has entered a new phase after both parties signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement. The deal follows weeks of uncertainty over Bayan’s production quota, which had forced three of its subsidiaries to declare force majeure while awaiting approval of their revised 2026 mining work and budget plans (RKAB). The timing of the acquisition, Bayan’s force majeure declaration and the subsequent approval of its revised production quota raises questions about the role of regulatory intervention in corporate outcomes.
Opinion 1 month ago
PREMIUM
Analysis: For the sake of public safety, MBG should be put on hold
The government’s flagship free nutritious meal program is facing an escalating crisis of public confidence as recurring food-poisoning outbreaks sweep the country. Yet despite mounting casualties, growing demands for accountability and urgent calls for a moratorium, the government has shown no intention of pausing the rollout.
Opinion 1 month ago
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.
Opinion 1 month ago
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 sufficient economic benefits or become a noose around Indonesia’s already stretched fiscal capacity.
Opinion 1 month ago
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 to it and can use returns from those assets for investment and capital injections. Part of its eventual profits is to be transferred to the state after provisions for investment risks and capital accumulation. The dispute therefore is not simply about whether the government can receive SOE dividends, but about when and through what mechanism those funds should reach the state budget.
Editor's Picks
Popular
- Ten years lost in two
- 'Rhizomatic' movements help youth voice political messages
- Three-finger salute raised high, broad and multifaceted in Indonesia
- RI posts strong GDP growth on better trade balance
- Jakarta's flood problem runs deeper than rivers
- Indonesia lands $385m in AI, industrial investment deals in UK
- Indonesia’s export body to only vet paperwork, not handle deals
- The twilight of RSPO: A multistakeholder sustainability forum
- Women take everyday battles to Jakarta streets
- Young Indonesians take fight for justice to Constitutional Court
