Monitoring Rupiah & Oil Prices
Today on Wednesday, the Indonesian Rupiah was still strong. Despite falling by 0,1 percent, the rupiah was still trading below 14.920 per US Dollar amid a weakening dollar.
Meanwhile, oil prices were still rising. The price of Brent Crude Oil still trading above 85 dollars a barrel while US oil is above 80 dollars a barrel on Wednesday.
The rise in oil prices comes after OPEC plus countries announced that they will be cutting oil production by a total of 1,6 million barrels per day.
E-Bikes Trend in Denmark
E-bikes are on trend at Scandinavia’s largest bicycle show staged in Danish Capital Copenhagen.
Visitors are trying out the latest two-wheelers at the Copenhagen bike show. And when it comes to trends, they’re increasingly battery-powered.
A recent report by the danish road directorate found sales of e-bikes have soared in the country. The market has grown from nothing in 2011 to almost 25 percent this year.
The report's authors say that e-bikes could occupy 50 percent of the market within a decade.
One of the exhibitors at the show, danish bike brand kil-demoes says that battery-powered bikes now make up well over 40 percent of their total sales.
Israel's Largest Trade Union Group Goes on Strike
Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside the Israeli parliament on Monday as workers launched a nationwide strike.
The demonstrations come as part of a surging protest movement, against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary.
Departing flights from the country’s main international airport were grounded Monday, large mall chains and universities shut their doors and Israel's largest trade union called for its 800-thousand members to stop work.
Diplomats walked off the job at foreign missions and the main doctors union announced its members would also strike.
Japan's Revised Q4 GDP: 0,1%, Showing Fragile Recovery
Revised figures showed that Japan’s economy grew at an annual pace of 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Which is showing how the world’s third-largest economy was barely eking out growth.
The Japanese cabinet office’s revised figure for seasonally adjusted GDP for the last three months of 2022 showed that growth on quarter was flat.
Domestic demand shrank 0.3% which is worse than the earlier release that showed a 0.2?cline. The latest numbers underline Japan’s fragile recovery.
Japan has struggled over a shortage of imported parts from China and the rest of Asia, such as computer chips for the auto industry. The country has also been struggling with inflation, especially the higher prices of energy that has been worsened by Russia's war in Ukraine.
However, the return of economic activity especially tourism is expected to bolster the rebound.
Although Covid cases still persist, the nation has been gradually relaxing measures such as crowd size restrictions or mask-wearing requirements
Pertamina Gas Builds Household Gas Network
The Indonesian Natural Gas Transportation and Distribution Company, Pertamina Gas Negara plans to add household gas pipelines and is targeting residential areas as well as commercial areas in South Tangerang in Banten.
The Head of The Gas Project, Agung Kusbiantoro said that the addition of household gas networks was carried out by the development of backbone pipes and the distribution of pipes that stretch over 352 kilometers in the binary area in South Tangerang. The gas network pipeline plans to reach 35 thousand households at 38 commercial points to supply 203 people.
For the initial stage a 36 kilometer gas pipeline network will be built and is targeted for completion by June 2023.
Previously Pertamina Gas Negara has built a gas network in Yogyakarta with as many as 12 thousand 900 household connections in the Sleman district and Yogyakarta city areas.
Indonesian Finance Minister Clarifies IDR349 Trillion Suspicious Transactions
In a meeting with the house of representatives commission eleven, Indonesia's Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani has clarified the Ministry's Chronology and Actions Taken against the Rp349 trillion suspicious transactions surrounding the finance ministry. Minister Sri Mulyani affirmed that Rp3,3 trillion of those suspicious transactions involved finance ministry officials.
On Monday the 27th of March, Indonesia's Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani heeded calls by the house of representatives and gave her ministry's version regarding the Rp349 trillion of suspicious transactions surrounding the finance ministry.
Those suspicious transactions were previously reported by the PPATK a government body responsible for auditing financials and eradicating money laundering.
In the minister's clarifications to the house's commission eleven, she explained that out of the 300 reports filed by the PPATK.
100 reports have already been handed over to law enforcement with transactions valued at Rp74 trillion. Meanwhile, 200 reports regarding the ministry of finance reported suspicious transactions worth Rp275 trillion.
However, 139 of those reports or investigations were actually done at the request of the ministry.
According to Sri Mulyani, Rp22 trillion of suspicious transactions involved the finance ministry and individuals and companies tied with the ministry.
Rp3,3 trillion of suspicious transactions were directly tied to finance ministry employees, while Rp18,7 trillion involved corporations.
Banking Crisis: Deutsche Bank Suffer Panic Sell Offs
German Bank, Deutsche Bank has become the latest bank to suffer panic-driven sell-offs. Amid a banking crisis started by the failure of California Silicon Valley Bank, that is now seemingly spreading panic to Europe.
Last Friday, the shared of Deutsche Bank plunged to 8,5-3 percent as the cost of insuring against the bank's default saw a sudden spike.
At one point during Friday's trading, the bank's shares even managed to drop 14 percent.
But today, Deutsche Bank's shares rebounded, managing to gain by 4,1 percent as of 8.29 London Time.
Credit default swaps are a form of insurance for a company's bondholders against its default, that surge, hence is reflecting rising concerns.
