Indonesia: Selected Issues

Following the acquisition of its sovereignty from the Netherlands in 1949, Indonesia experienced serious economic and political problems during the 1950s and 1960s, before entering a three-decade-long period of rapid economic growth. Hard-hit by the financial crisis of the late 1990s, Indonesia undertook a wide range of economic and financial reforms. These reforms served to prepare it well for the 2007-08 global financial crisis, through which Indonesia passed relatively unscathed. Drawing on empirical research, this book presents a comprehensive empirical study on the key macroeconomic relations and monetary policy issues in Indonesia. The book analyses monetary, fiscal and exchange-rate policies, looking at their interactions and impacts on the economy. It demonstrates how important macroeconomic management for monetary and financial stability is to sustained national economic growth and development. Data from the 1970s is compared and contrasted with 1950s data to analyse macroeconomic policies and issues in an historical context. Statistical and econometric techniques are juxtaposed with general empirical results to supplement informative discussion of macroeconomic and monetary developments. This book is a useful contribution to studies on macroeconomics and international development, as well as Southeast Asian studies.

‘Diagnosing the Indonesian Economy: Toward Inclusive and Green Growth’ discusses the critical constrains to inclusive economic growth in Indonesia. The volume includes a broad overview of Indonesia’s development since the 1960s, and features an analytic framework for the study that aims to identify the most binding constraints. The chapters analyze macroeconomic management since the Asian financial crisis; the status of Indonesia’s industrial transformation; the challenges pertaining to Indonesia’s infrastructure; the situation of human capital and employment; the record on poverty reduction; the impact and status of the decentralization effort; and the challenges attendant to the country’s environment and natural resources.

This 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights that in recent years, the Indonesian economy has benefited from a supportive global economic environment, namely in the form of a rise in commodity prices and strong growth in emerging markets. However, these conditions have been less supportive lately, resulting in slowing export growth. Combined with rising net oil and gas imports, the current account shifted into a deficit in 2012. Nonetheless, real GDP growth in 2012 remained strong at 61⁄4 percent, aided by domestic conditions, while inflationary pressures stayed low. Going forward, the near-term outlook reflects the more challenging global environment that Indonesia faces.

The Legal Department and the Institute of the IMF held their ninth biennial seminar for legal advisors of IMF member countries’ central banks, and the papers published in this volume are based on presentations made by officials attending this seminar. The seminar covered a broad range of topics, including sovereign debt restructuring, money laundering and the financing of terrorism, financial system and banking supervision, conflicts of interest and market discipline in the financial sector, insolvency, and other issues related to central banking.

This book brings together scholars of political economy, law and sociology to interrogate the seemingly unproblematic notions - the rules of law, good corporate governance, and flexible labour market - that inform neoliberal policy prescriptions. It also discusses how these concepts have been translated and practiced in East Asia.

Under adverse macroeconomic conditions, the potential realization of corporate sector vulnerabilities could pose major risks to the economy. This paper assesses corporate vulnerabilities in Indonesia by using a Bottom-Up Default Analysis (BuDA) approach, which allows projecting corporate probabilities of default (PDs) under different macroeconomic scenarios. In particular, a protracted recession and the ensuing currency depreciation could erode buffers on corporate balance sheets, pushing up the probabilities of default (PDs) in the corporate sector to the high levels observed during the Global Financial Crisis. While this is a low-probability scenario, the results suggest the need to closely monitor vulnerabilities and strengthen contingency plans.

Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific is jointly produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTP) and the OECD Development Centre (DEV) with the co-operation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Pacific Island Tax Administrators Association (PITAA), and the Pacific Community (SPC) and financial support from the governments of Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. This edition includes a special feature on the emerging challenges for the Asia-Pacific region in the COVID-19 era and ways to address them.

OECD Investment Policy Reviews: Indonesia charts Indonesia’s progress in developing an effective policy framework to promote investment for development.