Minister of Transportation declined Adhi’s request to be the LRT operator


The minister of transportation, Mr. Jonan


The minister of transportation, Mr. Jonan, decided to decline Adhi Karya’s (ADHI) request to be the LRT operator. The minister stated that his main reason to decline was due to Adhi’s lack of experience in the train operator business. Therefore, KAI will be the sole operator of the LRT. Instead of the operator, the minister offered Adhi Karya to be the transit oriented development (TOD) developer around the LRT area.

Grocery price survey showed the tendency of deflation




Grocery price survey, which is conducted by Bank Indonesia in the third week of February 2016, showed the tendency of deflation by 0.13% MoM. The result is very consistent with the survey in the first and the second week, which was 0.15% MoM and 0.14% MoM respectively. The Bank Indonesia predicts the inflation to increase by 3% to 5% YoY this year. In addition, target inflation within the macro state budget 2016 is 4.7%. Since 2010, the inflation in February is relative low compared to the other months. The highest inflation in February was in 2013, which was 0.75% MoM.

Government prepares new scenario of revised state budget




Government is preparing a new scenario of the revised state budget by excluding income from tax amnesty as discussion over tax amnesty was delayed. Vice President, Mr. Jusuf Kalla, admitted that the Government must adjust the state budget realistically, since tax income might decrease significantly.

Uncertainty in the 30% Local Content Regulation for 4G Mobile Phones


The Ministry of Industry is now considering five schemes for the 30% local content regulation for the 4G LTE mobile phones (see the table below). Previously, the local content regulation only consisted of manufacturing aspect and R&D/software aspects with composition of 80% and 20%, respectively. The Indonesia Association of Indonesia Telematics Devices Industry (AIPTI) has voiced its opposition for the 100% software scheme (which would benefit Apple as it still does not have manufacturing plant in Indonesia) because the 100% software scheme will put mobile phone manufacturers which already setup their manufacturing plants in Indonesia (such as Samsung) at disadvantage.

Figure: Five Schemes Proposed by Ministry of Industry Regarding the 30% Local Content for 4G Mobile Phones

Hardware
Software
0%
100%
25%
75%
50%
50%
75%
25%
100%
0%


BPJS Health is expected to have larger deficit in 2016



BPJS Health (the operator of the Indonesia Universal Healthcare) is expected to experience deficit of IDR9.8 trn (versus c. IDR4 trn in 2015). To overcome the increasing deficit, BPJS plans to increase the monthly premiums as follows: a) Subsidized low income segments from IDR19,000 to IDR23,000,Class 2 segments from IDR25,500 to IDR30,000, and Class 3 segments from IDR42,500 to IDR50,000. As of Feb 2016, BPJS Health already has 162 million people (c.65% of Indonesian people) enrolled in the program.