Indonesia International Motor Show 2023
Indonesia International Motor Show 2023 showcases an automotive exhibition at Jiexpo Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. The motor show is planned to last until February 26 and since the weekend visitors have packed the expo from 10 a-m.
The automotive exhibition presents a series of events that attract Indonesian automotive lovers. This year the event presents many hybrid and electric-based vehicles.
Not only can vistors admire the exhibition they can also test drive the electric vehicles provided and this includes the electric motorcycle.
As Indonesia continues to push a greener and cleaner economy by 2060 the continued development to provide electric vehicles to Indonesians and ensure affordability as well as accessibility is a step in the right direction to reach the country's target goal.
Indonesian Gov't Aims to Lower Extreme Poverty to 0% by 2024
The Indonesian government has set a highly ambitious target to lower the rate of extreme poverty to zero percent by 2024. On top of that the government is also aiming to lower stunting to 3,8 percent and lower overall poverty to a range of 6,5 to 7,5 percent by next year.
This marks a very ambitious target as the poverty rate was still at 9,75 percent in September 2022 while stunting was still at 21,6 percent.
The Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani said that lowering poverty and stunting will now be a priority of the government and funding will be focused on those issues.
Digital Transactions In Indonesia Continue To Grow
Digital transactions in Indonesia are growing rapidly as the the digital economy in the country continues to expand in scope and size.
Bank indonesia noted that in January 2023, electronic money transactions grew by 26 percent compared to January last year, and reached 36 point Rp5-7 trillion in value.
Digital banking transactions also grew 27,9 percent to reach 4.900 point Rp6 trillion.
Other forms of non-cash payments such as payments using debit and credit cards also rose five point 4 percent.
Bank Indonesia's Governor Perry Warjiyo said, that the Indonesian central Bank will continue to support digital payments in the country by improving the efficiency of digital cross border payments and accelerating the digitization of payments.
Antarctica Thwaites Glacier
A pencil-shaped robot is giving scientists their first look, at the forces, eating away at the thwaites glacier in Antarctica.
Two studies published today found the melting rate isn't as fast as feared. But it's not as good news as it might seem. It is nicknamed the doomsday glacier because of its massive melt and sea rise potential and it’s both good and bad news.
With the robot named Icefin lowered down into a 587 meter hole, they saw how important crevasses are in the fracturing of the ice, which takes the heaviest toll on the glacier, even more than melting. The work comes out of a massive 50 million dollar multi-year international research effort, to better understand the widest glacier in the world.
When ice is on ground as part of the glacier it isn't part of sea rise, but when it breaks off land and then goes onto water it adds to the overall water level by displacement, just as ice added to a glass of water raises its water level.
Russia Said They're Ready for Peace Negotiations
On Friday, the Russian armed forces launched a covert attack on the critically important energy facilities of Ukraine's military-industrial complex. While Ukraine claimed its armed force had shot down a Russian SU-25 Fighter Jet.
The massive strike hit the facilities which ensure energy security for Ukraine's military-industrial enterprises, the Russian Defense Ministry said, in a briefing released on Saturday. On the same day, Ukraine announced that its air force launched multiple strikes on areas of concentration of Russian personnel and military weaponry, targeting also Russian air defense system positions.
In an interview with Russia's red star tv station, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey Vershinin said his country is ready for peace negotiations with Ukraine with no precondition and they should take into account the current realities.
Starting from next week, Germany will start training Ukrainian soldiers to operate and maintain the Leopard 2 tanks, according to German media reports. The training will take place in Germany and last six to eight weeks.
If everything goes according to plan, the first batch of Ukraine's trained soldiers will return to the front lines with the leopard 2 tanks by the end of March.
US Producer Prices Rise Again Amid Energy Cost Increases
Wholesale prices in the united states reaccelerated in January, indicating that inflation pressures continue to underlie the US Economy despite longer-term signs of improvement. From December to January, the government's producer price index jumped 0.7%, driven up in part by a 5% surge in energy prices.
It was a substantial increase, as previously producer price index dropped 0.2% from November to December. It was also nearly twice the rise that economists had been expecting.
In the energy sector, wholesale gasoline prices in January were up 6.2% compared to December. Diesel fuel prices were up 10.9% and natural gas for homes were up 12.2%.
However, food prices fell 1% the second straight monthly drop. Egg prices sank 12.7% from December to January / but are still up more than 200% from a year ago.
While the monthly inflation surge was worse than expected, price increases measured over the past year continued to show a slowdown.
Wholesale prices in January were up 6% from 12 months earlier, compared with a 6.5% year-over-year rise in December and a recent peak of 11.7% in March. It was the seventh straight month of decelerating year-over-year wholesale inflation, though it still came in higher than forecasters had expected.
Bank Indonesia Benchmark Rates Maintained at 5.75%
Indonesia's Central Bank, Bank Indonesia has decided to not to hike its benchmark interest rates and will instead hold them at 5,75 percent.
In announcing the decision on Thursday, Bank Indonesia's Governor Perry Warjiyo, said that the current level of the bi seven day reverse repo rate will be enough to push down inflation to three percent plus minus one percent by the first semester of 2023.
In January, Indonesia's annual inflation rate was 5,28 percent. Lower than the 5,51 inflation in December and also marking a continuous drop after a high of 5,95 percent last year.
Governor Perry said the decision to hold rates at 5,75 percent was done following the assessment on current domestic and global economic conditions.
The deposit facility rate and lending facility rate were also held at five and 6,5 percent respectively.
