The latest cabinet reshuffle
A few months ago, the Indonesian government suffered a blow after one of its Cabinet Ministers was detained for a corruption case. The amount involved in the case was more than 8 trillion rupiahs, or slightly more than 500 million USD. The accused minister held the portfolio of Communication and Information. He was appointed minister representing National Democratic Party (NASDEM), formerly a close ally of the President but one that has slowly departed to support the candidacy of Anies Baswedan in the upcoming presidential election early next year.
In this latest cabinet reshuffle, the new minister to replace the detained minister was picked from the affiliates of the ruling party, namely the PDIP. The new minister was formerly Vice Minister of Rural Development and Transmigration. During the inauguration ceremony of the new minister, five others at the level of vice minister were also officially appointed.
The latest cabinet reshuffle shows the dynamism of the Jokowi Presidency. With approval ratings of over 80% while in the final term of his presidency, President Joko Widodo’s position as a head of state is, no doubt, very strong. However, he certainly would like to leave a good legacy. Therefore, no effort has been spared to continuously improve his administration even though there is not much time left.
In the meantime, Central Board of Statistics released its balance of trade report for the month of June 2023. The trade balance registered another large surplus, much larger than that of the previous month. The surplus in June 2023 was $3,454.6 million compared to $427.2 million achieved in May. Exports in June reached $20,605.1 million while imports reached $17,150.5 million. Cumulative exports from January to June 2023 were $128,657.1 million while cumulative imports for the same period were $108,727.8 million. The total trade surplus for the first six months of 2023 stands at $19,929.3 million, 21.3% lower than $24,986.9 million achieved in the same period of the previous year. Even though the trade surplus has declined from its peak, the figure still shows the strength of Indonesia's external position, in which new drivers of the economy have started to show significant trade surpluses.
The Central Board of Statistics also reported the Consumer Price Index for June, which resulted in inflation of 0.14%. With that monthly inflation, Y/Y inflation in June reached 3.52%, a level in the upper part of the inflation corridor administered by the Central Bank. Against that background, Bank Indonesia kept its benchmark rate constant at 5.75% during the policy meeting held on July 24-25, 2023.
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