Q2 growth decelerated from 5.61% in Q1 2026; the Finance Ministry projects a second-half rebound while LPEM FEB UI had forecast the Q2 rate dropping below 5%

Food poisoning struck 707 students and teachers in Semarang on August 2, 13 of them hospitalised, after they consumed meals from Indonesia's flagship Makan Bergizi Gratis programme; the National Nutrition Agency suspended the Semarang distribution centre and declared a zero-tolerance policy on food-safety failures in the scheme

Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto disclosed on July 31 that South Korean President Lee Jae Myung had asked during a Seoul state visit in April whether Prabowo could visit North Korea to reopen dialogue with Pyongyang; Prabowo said he was willing to go, positioning Indonesia as a potential mediator between the two Koreas

Heavy rain flooded multiple areas in North Sumatra over July 31 to August 1, with the Sikkam river bursting its banks in Simalungun district, trapping six residents on rooftops and cutting the Trans-Sumatra Highway linking Medan to Siantar; the Jakarta Post and Malaysia's The Star noted the flooding is occurring as Indonesia's dry season intensifies across most of the archipelago, pointing to increasingly uneven weather patterns

Perry Warjiyo resigned as governor of Bank Indonesia on July 26, citing personal reasons, and President Prabowo Subianto accepted the resignation on July 27; Senior Deputy Governor Destry Damayanti was named acting governor as the central bank promised uninterrupted services, though economists said the abrupt mid-term exit puts institutional independence to the test

Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, who took over Indonesia's National Nutrition Agency in June, resigned on July 22 citing a heart condition; Bloomberg reported she said the job left her 'traumatized'; the resignation marks the second leadership change in Prabowo Subianto's flagship nutrition programme in just over a month

The Indonesian House of Representatives passed the Pusat Keuangan Internasional Indonesia (PFII) bill on July 21 after less than a month of deliberation, a fast-track pace that analysts said sacrifices the transparency and legal certainty needed to attract global funds

The 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting convened in Manila on July 20 with US Secretary of State Rubio, China's Wang Yi and other major-power counterparts present; Southeast Asian ministers voiced serious concern over Middle East hostilities and called for safe, unimpeded passage through the Strait of Hormuz, while Myanmar's stalled peace process and South China Sea tensions also featured

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto launched the B50 biodiesel program in West Java on July 9-10, requiring all diesel sold in Indonesia to contain 50 percent palm-based biodiesel; the mandate, an extension of a blending program that began at 5 percent in 2006, makes Indonesia the first country to mandate a 50 percent biofuel blend and is expected to raise domestic palm oil demand while reducing available exports

India's PM Modi and Indonesia's President Prabowo signed a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile supply deal, an Astra air-to-air missile contract, and a Sabang Port access agreement on July 7, completing the largest defence package in the bilateral relationship

Jakarta held its national accession dialogue on July 5 after CPTPP members launched the preparatory discussion process on June 26; Coordinating Minister Airlangga said Indonesia has aligned 22 of the pact's chapters with domestic law and is ready to advance to the accession working group stage

India's prime minister departs July 6 on a three-nation Indo-Pacific swing covering Jakarta, Melbourne and Auckland; the New Zealand leg is the first state visit by any Indian PM to the country since 1986

Five of 35,476 civilian participants in mandatory basic military training for President Prabowo Subianto's flagship Red and White Village Cooperatives program died in the first ten days, from heat stroke, tuberculosis and cardiac causes; Indonesia's Human Rights Commission called for the training to be suspended.

Jakarta's Corruption Court handed the Gojek co-founder and former Education Minister a 10-year prison term and ordered restitution of 809.6 billion rupiah for state losses from a fraudulent Chromebook procurement scheme; he plans to appeal

The Commission begins preparatory compliance discussions with three new applicants, extending the Indo-Pacific trade pact into the Gulf and deepening it in Southeast Asia

A 12-member Indo-Pacific free trade pact built on the US-abandoned Trans-Pacific Partnership, covering roughly 15% of global GDP and now expanding to Europe and the Gulf.

Indonesia holds 42% of global nickel reserves and produces roughly 60% of world supply, giving Jakarta decisive leverage over the EV battery supply chain.

A deep-water Indonesian passage between Bali and Lombok that carries post-Malaccamax supertankers and serves as Southeast Asia's primary submarine transit corridor.

The world's most-produced vegetable oil, grown primarily in Indonesia and Malaysia, underpins global food prices, biofuel mandates, and a deforestation dispute with the EU.

Indonesia's eighth president since October 2024, a retired army general whose economic reforms and opaque inner circle are testing Southeast Asia's largest democracy.

Shared by Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, the Strait of Malacca carries 23 million barrels of oil daily, more than any other chokepoint, linking Middle Eastern suppliers to Asian markets.

The narrow Indonesian waterway between Sumatra and Java links the Indian Ocean to the Java Sea, serving as the secondary bypass route when the Strait of Malacca is congested or contested.

An oil-price shock, a corruption scandal in the free-meals programme and an unnerving inner circle drive a crisis of confidence in Jakarta

The Ministry of SOEs is gone; oversight shifts to Danantara, the sovereign wealth fund, with a target of consolidating 1,100 state entities down to 257

Insiders blame erratic, poorly communicated policy and an opaque advisory court; a Tony Robbins session at the palace becomes the symbol of the unease

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh revealed at Shangri-La that Vietnam's deal was signed quietly last fiscal; Indonesia confirmed an agreement in March; Operation Sindoor's combat debut put the missile in every buyer's brief