GENERAL NEWS AND HEADLINES 

Late submission to Jokowi invalidates jobs law: Indonesian People’s Faction
Tempo (https://tinyurl.com/y6zdgnuu); CNN Indonesia (https://tinyurl.com/y6hwu3lr)

Nongovernmental organizations grouped under the Indonesian People’s Faction (FRI) have argued that the Job Creation Law was not valid because its submission to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had exceeded the deadline.

House of Representatives Regulation No. 2/2020 concerning law formation stipulates that the submission of a draft law must be carried out no later than seven working days from the data of mutual consent.

“As we all know, the [House] plenary session approved the Job Creation Law on Oct. 5. This means that the submission should have been made no later than Oct. 13, or one day ago,” the FRI said in a written statement on Wednesday.

This delay has only added to mounting concerns that the jobs law may not be legally sound.

According to House secretary-general Indra Iskandar, the jobs law will be handed over to the President on Wednesday afternoon through State Secretary Pratikno.

 

RI’s rate of active COVID-19 cases lower than world average: COVID-19 task force
Kompas (https://tinyurl.com/yxmxxoz8)

National COVID-19 task force member Dewi Nur Aisyah said Indonesia’s number of active COVID-19 cases currently sits below the world average.

Based on data recorded on Sunday, the global average of active COVID-19 cases stands at 22.08 percent, whereas Indonesia’s rate is 19.17 percent.

Dewi added that there are around 248 districts or cities in Indonesia, whose active cases still remain below the world average. However, there are also 252 district or cities with active cases topping the world average.

On Tuesday, Indonesia confirmed 3,906 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 340,662 and deaths reaching 12,027.

 

Luhut yet to effectively curtail COVID-19 cases across nine provinces
CNN Indonesia (https://tinyurl.com/y5fmahel)

It has been almost a month since President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo instructed Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan to curtail the number of COVID-19 cases across nine priority provinces within two weeks. These provinces are Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Bali, North Sumatra and Papua.

However, until now, these nine provinces have only seen an increase in positive cases, while their recovery rates have also declined.

According to the COVID-19 task force, the accumulation of COVID-19 cases across the nine provinces since being handled by Luhut reached 47,615 between Sept. 15 and 28. Two weeks prior to Luhut’s assignment, the combined number of COVID-19 cases across the nine provinces was 46,727.

The accumulation of positive cases then fell to 38,519 over the last two weeks, between Sept. 29 and Oct. 12. Despite this declining trend, several provinces in the last two weeks have recorded their highest numbers of COVID-19 cases, namely Jakarta, Central Java and East Java.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS NEWS AND HEADLINES 

IMF: Current account deficit to shrink to 1.3 percent of GDP
CNN Indonesia (https://tinyurl.com/y2j4wgkb) 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that Indonesia’s current account deficit will reach 1.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, better than last year’s figure of 2.7 percent. Indonesia’s shrinking current account deficit is due to weakened demand for imported products, the IMF explained. However, the deficit may widen to 2.4 percent in 2021 when the economy starts to recover.

 

BI: Manufacturing sector continues to contract in Q3
Bisnis Indonesia (https://tinyurl.com/y58jb8d8); CNN Indonesia (https://tinyurl.com/y2t3zcog) 

Indonesia’s manufacturing sector still contracted in the third quarter of the year, according to Bank Indonesia (BI), though not as deep as in the second quarter.

BI spokesperson Onny Widjanarko said the central bank’s prompt manufacturing index (PMI) stood at 44.91 percent in the third quarter, higher than 28.55 percent in the previous quarter. A reading below 50 signifies a contraction against the previous quarter, while above 50 reflects expansion. BI projects that the manufacturing sector will continue its contraction in the fourth quarter as its PMI is predicted to reach 47.16 percent.

 

Indonesia’s external debts swell to $402b
Kontan (https://tinyurl.com/y4qfut4s); Detik (https://tinyurl.com/y676rofj) 

A World Bank report titled “International Debt Statistics 2021” has revealed that Indonesia’s external debt stood at US$402 billion in 2019. The bank also ranked Indonesia’s external debt in seventh position among lower-middle-income countries.

Masyita Crystallin, a special aide for Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, said the country’s external debt is still under control. In August, the figure was 29 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Currently, the government is urging domestic investors, specifically retail investors, to meet its financing needs, Masyita added.

 

Upstream oil and gas investment reaches 63.33 percent of target in September
Kontan (https://tinyurl.com/y39tom89) 

The Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Task Force (SKK Migas) announced that upstream oil and gas investment has reached US$ 7.03 billion, or 63.33 percent of this year’s target of $11.1 billion, as of September.

“$6.91 billion was made in production and $120 million in exploration,” SKK Migas spokesperson Susana Kurniasih said.

She added that the task force had no plans to change its investment target for the fourth quarter.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, SKK Migas targeted an upstream oil and gas investment of $13.83 billion.

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