Rainer Michael Preiss writing for Forbes Asia, is reporting on Indonesia’s fast emerging stock market and the wealth it is creating, saying that amid intensifying geopolitical tensions, Indonesia is getting a fresh look from the global investment community.
He writes that international funds have helped make the Jakarta stock market among Asia’s top performers this year. And while listing activity has been muted in 2022 overall, Indonesia leads its Southeast Asian peers by deal count as of mid-November. The rupiah also has held up well against the US dollar.
Robust demand for Indonesia’s coal underpinned exports, and with strong domestic consumption, Southeast Asia’s largest economy is set to expand by 5.3-percent this year, which Forbes say is buoyed by high global prices for Indonesia’s commodity exports.
In a related story, Forbes report that this momentum could be curbed by accelerated inflation, but the benchmark stock market index has risen by 8-percent, which has helped to lift the collective wealth of the 50 richest Indonesians to a record USD 180-billion, up from USD 162-billion last year.
The country’s much-touted transition to renewable energy is expected to drive future growth, paced by Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s climate goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
To help Indonesia reduce its reliance on coal, a group of governments and lenders announced USD 200-billion to support the shift at the G20 summit, which Widodo hosted in Bali in November. High inflation, however, is also a major worry, and consumer prices are running at a multiyear high, writes Preiss.
Source: Forbes Asia
