The candidacy of Ganjar Pranowo
At the peak of the month of Ramadan, with the fasting month ending on April 21, 2023, former President Megawati, in her capacity as the Chairwoman of the PDIP Party (the largest party in Indonesia) made the announcement of the candidacy of Ganjar Pranowo for next year's presidential election. This was really a surprise for many people because for some time she was rumored to be considering appointing her own daughter as candidate for the presidency. Her daughter, Puan Maharani, is currently an important figure in the PDIP Party and is also Speaker of the House.
This announcement of the candidacy of Ganjar Pranowo was awaited for some time by the Indonesian people. During the announcement, President Joko Widodo, who is also a member of the PDIP Party, displayed strong support for the candidate, and his presence at the event gave it significant weight. The announcement was warmly welcomed by PDIP members as well as his supporters across political parties. In fact, silent support has been building from many of the minorities who see him as the one candidate who can basically protect them.
Ganjar Pranowo is currently Provincial Governor of Central Java and is known as a leader who is very close to his people. He has continuously visited people in his province, especially the "little" people in the traditional markets and in many small cities and villages. He also courageously challenged extreme religious followers to be tolerant of minorities. Therefore, his candidacy quickly won the support of many people across political as well as religious spectra.
In the meantime, the Central Board of Statistics released its balance of trade report for March 2023. The trade balance registered another large surplus, although far smaller than the previous month. The surplus in March 2023 stood at $2,907.3 million compared to the $5,462.4 million achieved in February. The total trade surplus for the first three months of 2023 stands at $12,250.6 million, 31.2% higher than the $9,332.1 million achieved in the same period of the previous year. That figure underscores the strength of Indonesia's external position, in which new drivers of the economy have started to result in significant trade surpluses.
Exports in March reached $23,495.2 million while imports were $20,587.9 million. Cumulative exports between January to March 2023 reached $67,200.6 million, while cumulative imports for the same period were $54,950 million.
The Central Board of Statistics also reported the Consumer Price Index for the month of March 2023, which showed inflation of 0.18%. With that monthly inflation, year-over-year inflation in March reached 4.97%, a level below 5% for the first time in the past few months. While higher than the inflation corridor targeted by the Central Bank, the level of year-over-year inflation continued to weaken in March. Against that background, Bank Indonesia kept the benchmark rate constant at 5.75% at its policy meeting held in April 2023.
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