• Economy: BI lowers rate to 5.75%
Aspirasi Hidup Indonesia (ACES) targets to change the store name from Ace Hardware to
Bank Indonesia (BI) reduced the BI rate by 25bps to 5.75% at the Board of Governors Meeting
(RDG) from 14-15 January 2025. Besides that, BI adjusted the Deposit Facility interest rate to
5% and the Lending Facility interest rate to 6.5%. BI Governor, Perry Warjiyo, said that the
reason BI cut interest rates amidst the rupiah exchange rate which was still depreciating was
because BI was able to read the Fed’s movements regarding the Federal Funds Rate (FFR)
policy after Donald Trump was elected president. Initially, the market predicted that FFR
would fall by 75bps to 50bps in 2025. However, BI reads that FFR may only fall by 25bps this
year. Perry explained that two factors influence the direction of the BI-Rate movement,
including the dynamics that occur globally, especially the policies pursued by the US
government and the Fed’s and also national policies. From his observations, the condition of
global uncertainty this year is still high. Even so, Perry said that this dissatisfaction could still
be measured, especially regarding the direction of the US government’s fiscal deficit policy,
which reached 7.7% of gross domestic product (GDP), as well as estimates of the impact of
US Treasury yields this year which are expected to remain high. Meanwhile, regarding
domestic economic developments this year, Perry sees inflation conditions will remain low
according to the target of 2.5% plus or minus 1%. In fact, it is estimated that it will still be low
in the next two years, so there is still room for a reduction in interest rates. (Kontan)
• Automotive: Gaikindo targets 900,000 national car sales in 2025
Gaikindo targets national car sales to reach 900,000 units by 2025. This projection is higher
than the realization of national car sales last year, namely 865,723 units for the wholesale
category and 889,680 units for the retail category. This figure is also higher than the revised
version of national car sales projections in 2024, namely 850,000 units. Gaikindo General
Secretary, Kukuh Kumara, said this optimism emerged considering the news that 25
provinces had decided to postpone the implementation of the tax option for motorized
vehicles to 2025. On the other hand, the increase in VAT to 12%, which also targets fourwheeled
vehicles will also be a challenge for the automotive industry in 2025, although the
impact is not as massive as the tax opportunity. This is because the burden of increasing VAT
can still be minimized if consumers buy a car using an installment scheme. Thus, Gaikindo
hopes that the purchasing power of the Indonesian people will recover soon so that the
demand for new cars will grow again. Moreover, the government is also providing various
incentives for electric to hybrid cars. (Kontan)
• SILO plans to take over assets of First REIT hospital in Indonesia
Siloam International Hospitals (SILO) conveyed plans to take over the assets of First REIT
hospitals in Indonesia. The Letter of Intent (LOI) was received and confirmed by the manager
on 13 Jan 25. This proposed transaction will be subject to agreement on, and finalization of,
definitive transaction documents, which will be subject to commercial negotiations and
certain pre-completion pre-conditions to be agreed between the parties. (Bisnis Indonesia)