BI Governor Perry Warjiyo (Photo: Antara News) Jakarta (VNA) – Bank Indonesia (BI) has kept its benchmark rate unchanged for five consecutive months to safeguard the country’s external balance. Following a two-day board of governors meeting, the central bank announced on April 25 that it kept the seven-day reverse repo rate at 6 percent, and the deposit and lending facility rates were maintained at 5.25 and 6.75 percent, respectively. BI Governor Perry Warjiyo said that the decision is in line with the central bank and government’s efforts to stabilise the economy, adding BI will monitor the latest development in Indonesia’s balance of payment accounts. In addition, the bank also announced several policies to boost growth in domestic demand. Those include holding foreign exchange swap and repo term auctions more frequently, effective from May 6, lowering the cost of its Domestic Non-Deliverable Forward (DNDF) with transaction values up to 5 million USD. BI … [Read more...] about Bank Indonesia keeps benchmark rate unchanged
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Abandoned by banks, Indonesia’s poor farmers turn to crowdfunding
Indonesian poultry farmer Yohanes Sugihtononugroho faced ruin four years ago when plummeting prices forced him to slaughter all 100,000 of his chickens and shutter his business. He blamed large-scale poultry farmers who carried out a mass cull after their birds fell sick, flooding the market and sending prices tumbling. “We were a small player fighting tooth and nail every day,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “When it all came crashing down, I was really depressed and didn’t know what I then wanted to do with my life.” Instead of turning his back on farming, the 26-year-old decided to help others struggling financially by setting up CROWDE, a mobile crowdfunding platform that allows users to invest as little as $1 in thousands of farms across Indonesia. Most of Asia-Pacific’s 422 million farms are run by smallholders with less than 2 hectares (5 acres) of land each. The majority of farmers in the region face an uphill battle to access … [Read more...] about Abandoned by banks, Indonesia’s poor farmers turn to crowdfunding
Indonesia’s central bank optimises big data to boost growth
Bank Indonesia (BI) (Photo: Antara) Jakarta (VNA) – The Bank Indonesia (BI) - the central bank - has made optimum use of big data to formulate policies expected to speed up the national economic growth, said BI Deputy Governor Erwin Rijanto. By taking advantage of big data, the BI is able to predict something more accurately and quickly, Rijanto said after opening an international seminar on big data in Bali. Rijanto said nearly 30 percent of the world’s central banks, including the BI, have used big data to build policies. These policies are related to monetary and macro-prudential analyses, financial system stability, information needs and new researches, he said. The other advantages of big data are new indicators which enable the central banks to map the linkage of financial institutions through a network analysis to mitigate the systemic risks of the financial system, Rijanto said. In addition, big data will also enable their users to identify economic … [Read more...] about Indonesia’s central bank optimises big data to boost growth
Most Southeast Asia stocks end lower; Indonesia posts 11-month closing low
Most Southeast Asian stock markets reversed early gains to end lower on Monday with Indonesia marking its lowest close in more than 11 months while Vietnam shed 2.5 percent. Jakarta's main index closed at its lowest since June 2017, with banking stocks bearing the brunt. Bank Rakyat Indonesia ended 6.1 percent lower, while Bank Negara Indonesia lost 3.6 percent. Bank Indonesia said it would conduct three foreign exchange swap auctions this week to ensure there is enough currency liquidity in the market after it hiked its benchmark interest rate last week to support the rupiah and plug capital outflows. "As the U.S. continuously raises interest rates, it's impacting a lot of emerging markets, such as Indonesia. Hence, the central bank has to raise interest rates to stamp out capital outflows," said Joel Ng, analyst at KGI Securities. The index of the country's most liquid stocks shed 1.3 percent. Vietnam … [Read more...] about Most Southeast Asia stocks end lower; Indonesia posts 11-month closing low
Indonesia’s financial system remains stable
The financial system of Indonesia remains stable and the bank intermediation function continues to improve, stated Bank Indonesia (BI) Executive Director for Communications Agusman. The financial system of Indonesia remains stable - Photo: Antara According to ANTARA news, Agusman noted in a statement on April 23 that maintained stability in the financial system is reflected in the high Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of the banking industry, reaching 23.1 percent, and liquidity ratio, 23 percent, in February 2018. Theo VNA … [Read more...] about Indonesia’s financial system remains stable