The fourth most populous country in the world spread across more than 6000 islands, banks have struggled to reach out beyond Indonesia's big cities up to now. However, a digital transformation is gripping the country, bringing with it the promise of huge increase in financial inclusion. Stefania Palma reports.
As finance minister of Indonesia, one of Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s priorities is to boost government revenue by tackling low tax receipts. These are caused by an overly complicated system – but modifying regulation will be a slow process. Meanwhile, she has major industries that are paying relatively low levels of tax in her sights, as Stefania Palma reports.
Indonesia's minister of finance discusses the country's efforts to achieve a sustainable growth path. Budget reforms and fiscal stimulus have already been pushed through. But to tackle the question of poor infrastructure, the government needs more than increased investment.
Emerging market currencies benefited handsomely from the US central bank’s huge quantitative easing programme. With that now being unwound and with China slowing, emerging currencies are now in retreat. Those from economies with weak fundamentals are especially vulnerable.
The fourth most populous country in the world. A fast-growing economy. A rapidly rising middle class. A huge unbanked population. There is little wonder that domestic and international lenders are focusing on getting their Indonesia strategy just right given the potential rewards on offer, but penetrating this vast archipelago is no easy task.
If the early 2000s were all about the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, now attention is shifting to the up-and-coming countries of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey – the MINTs. And with rapid economic growth predicted, retail banks in these countries will be under enormous pressure to keep up.
Year upon year, the Islamic finance industry posts stellar growth figures. However, as large Western lenders withdraw from the sector, is Islamic finance in as healthy a shape as the figures suggest? The Banker asks a number of experts in the field what the future holds for sharia-compliant banking.