Artikel 10

Mentan: Harga Cabai Jatuh, Petani Menangis

Menteri Pertanian (Mentan) Suswono mengungkapkan banyak petani yang merana lantaran harga cabai yang terlampau murah. Akan tetapi, ketika dijual kepada konsumen, harga menjadi sangat mahal.

"Petani menangis, harga cabai murah sekali. Harga cabai keriting merah Rp 4.000-an, tapi di konsumen Rp 20.000. Kenapa bisa sampai 4 hingga 5 kali lipat," kata Suswono di Kantor Pusat Bank Indonesia (BI), Jumat (4/7/2014).

Suswono mengatakan, dengan kondisi seperti ini, pihak yang menikmati untung justru adalah pedagang. Oleh karena itu, pihaknya bersama dengan Kementerian Perdagangan akan menyelesaikan masalah cabai tersebut. Di samping itu, Suswono mengungkapkan pentingnya pemahaman masyarakat terkait kecenderungan mengkonsumsi cabai dalam bentuk segar.

Alternatif yang ditawarkan pemerintah adalah mengkonsumsi cabai yang telah dikeringkan. Sebab, tingginya konsumsi cabai segar malah membuat harga menjadi fluktuatif. "Masyarakat juga perlu dididik agar tidak perlu selalu makan cabe segar. Bisa yang sudah dikeringkan. tani pengennya untung stabil, bukan fluktuatif," ujar Suswono.

Menurut dia, kondisi harga cabai saat ini secara langsung atau tidak langsung karena pedagang yang mungkin saja mengambil keuntungan. Sebab saat ini pasokan cabai sedang melimpah pasca panen raya. "Kalau petani ya jelas ditekan karena supply lagi melimpah. Bawang merah Juli panen raya, bisa tertekan lagi. Semoga bisa dijaga. Problem hortikultura adalah tidak tahan lama," jelasnya.(sumber: http://bisniskeuangan.kompas.com/read/2014/07/04/210700526/Mentan.Harga.Cabai.Jatuh.Petani.Menangis)

Opini  : sebaiknya menteri perdagangan dan pertanian bekerja sama untuk menentukan harga pasar cabai. Agar tidak ada lagi penjual penjual nakal yang meraup keuntungan besar sedangkan para petani kekurangan penghasilan.

Artikel 9

Menjelang Pilpres, Rupiah Melonjak ke Level 11.780

Nilai tukar rupiah Senin (7/7/2014) menguat atas dollar AS. Data yang dihimpun Bloomberg menunjukkan, pada pukul 09.14 WIB, rupiah menguat 0,9 persen di pasar spot menjadi 11.780 per dollar AS. Ini merupakan kenaikan terbesar sejak 30 Juni lalu.

Penguatan juga terlihat pada nilai kurs rupiah berdasarkan Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR) pagi ini. Data yang dirilis BI memperlihatkan penguatan rupiah sebesar 0,8 persen menjadi 11.787 dibanding posisi akhir pekan lalu di level 11.887.

Menurut Irene Cheung, strategist Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, saat ini, pelaku pasar sudah mulai menerima kemungkinan kemenangan Prabowo Subianto dalam laga pilpres Rabu (9/7/2014) mendatang. (baca juga: Morgan Staney: Prabowo Menang, Rupiah Longsor ke Rp 12.300 per Dollar AS)

"Namun, rekaman Jokowi terkait korupsi terlihat lebih baik dibanding Prabowo. Sehingga, debat pilpres terakhir memberikan pengaruh positif bagi Jokowi," jelasnya kepada Bloomberg.

(sumber : (sumber  :http://bisniskeuangan.kompas.com/read/2014/07/07/))

Opini : Sebaiknya pemerintah menjaga kestabilan uang rupiah agar tidak terlalu melonjak turun atau naik mata uang yang stabil lebih baik karena lebih menguntungkan kedua belah pihak antara masyarakat dan juga para pengusaha indonesia sendiri.

Artikel 8

BI: Masih Ada Risiko Perekonomian yang Harus Diwaspadai

Pemerintah dan Bank Indonesia (BI) menengarai masih ada risiko yang perlu diwaspadai, meski stabilitas makroekonomi terjaga."Pemerintah dan BI sepakat untuk memelihara stabilitas makroekonomi dan menjaga kepercayaan pasar terhadap prospek perekonomian Indonesia. Indonesia kita yakini mempunyai perkembangan ekonomi yang menuju kondisi yang lebih sehat," kata Gubernur BI Agus DW Martowardojo dalam konferensi pers, Jumat (4/7/2014).

Untuk itu, pemerintah dan BI akan melakukan langkah-langkah, antara lain mengendalikan inflasi sesuai dengan sasaran yang ditetapkan, melanjutkan upaya menurunkan defisit transaksi berjalan ke tingkat yang lebih berkesinambungan, menjaga kesinambungan fiskal, dan mengelola utang luar negeri yang lebih sehat.

"Pengendalian inflasi akan diperkuat dengan sejumlah langkah konkrit BI dengan pemerintah. BI dan pemerintah memperkuat komitmen dalam mencapai sasaran inflasi jangka menengah, yaitu 4 plus minus 1 persen di tahun 2016-2017 dan 3,5 plus minus 1 persen pada 2018," ujar Agus.

Selain itu, pemerintah dan BI juga sepakat untuk mempertajam upaya pengelolaan defisit transaksi berjalan. Terkait pengelolaan fiskal, pemerintah akan melakukan langkah-langkah yang telah disepakati dalam APBN-P 2014, terutama terkait peningkatan penerimaan pajak dan pengendalian volume konsumsi BBM bersubsidi.

"Harapan kita maka kestabilan kerjasama ini bisa memberi arah jelas kepada masyarakat dan menjadi alat bagi bangsa kita supaya cepat maju dan menyejahterakan bangsa," ujar Menko Bidang Perekonomian Chairul Tanjung pada kesempatan yang sama. (sumber : http://bisniskeuangan.kompas.com/read/2014/07/04/134345026/BI.Masih.Ada.Risiko.Perekonomian.yang.Harus.Diwaspadai)

Opini  : BI dan pemerintah harus bisa menjaga stabilitas perekonomian di Indonesia dan juga dapat mengendalikan APBN dan APBD agar Indonesia tidak menambah hutang pada negara asing.

Artikel 7

Menkeu Klaim Kepercayaan Investor terhadap Indonesia Masih Tinggi

Menteri Keungan Chatib Basri menilai kepercayaan terhadap instrumen pasar keuangan Indonesia masih tinggi. Hal tersebut terbukti dengan kelebihan permintaan (oversubscribed) dari penerbitan perdana Eurobond yang mencapai hampir 7 kali dari penawaran.

“Yang luar biasa menurut saya demand-nya sampai 6,7 billion Euro. Berarti hampir 7 kali oversubscribed. Ini menunjukkan bahwa appetite atau permintaan atau kepercapayaan terhadap Indonesia masih sangat tinggi,” kata Chatib ditemui di Gedung Parlemen, Jakarta, Kamis (3/7/2014).

Permintaan yang tinggi terhadap Surat Utang Negara (SUN) dalam valuta asing berdenominasi Euro dengan nomor seri RIEUR0721 tersebut, juga menunjukkan bahwa pasar tidak hanya melihat pelemahan rupiah semata.

“Jadi kalau saya lihat dari sini memang pelemahan rupiah dari beberapa waktu terakhir lebih merupakan fenomena lokal,” imbuhnya. Dengan yield Euro yang lebih rendah dibanding yield dollar AS, maka biaya pinjaman jadi llebih murah.

“Itu jelas lebih rendah dibandingkan dengan kupon di dalam dollar AS untuk jenis bonds yang sama. Harganya juga bagus dan ini adalah strategi yang dipilih pemerintah ketika yield dollarnya naik, kita masuk kepada Euro yang yield dari Euronya mengalami penurunan. Sehingga dengan begitu cost of borrowing, atau biaya pinjaman, jadi lebih murah,” katanya lagi.

Chatib menambahkan, keputusan pemerintah mengeluarkan SUN Euro sudah tepat, menyusul kebijakan quantitative-easing yang baru saja diambil oleh ECB. Sebagai informasi, penjualan SUN denominasi euro ini merupakan yang pertama kalinya dilakukan oleh Pemerintah Republik Indonesia di pasar keuangan internasional.

“Penerbitan ini dilaksanakan sebagai bagian dari strategi diversifikasi sumber-sumber pembiayaan dan perluasan basis investor global," tulis Direktorat Jenderal Pengolaan Utang Kementerian Keuangan dalam keterangan resmi, Kamis (3/7/2014).

Hasil dari penerbitan SUN ini digunakan untuk memenuhi sebagian dari target pembiayaan APBN-P 2014. SUN denominasi euro ini memiliki tenor 7 tahun dengan tanggal pricing pada 2 Juli 2014. (sumber : http://bisniskeuangan.kompas.com/read/2014/07/03/1556599/Menkeu.Klaim.Kepercayaan.Investor.terhadap.Indonesia.Masih.Tinggi)

Opini  : Diharapkan dengan adanya SUN lebih dapat meningkatkan nilai mata uang Indonesia dan juga meningkatkan kepercayaan investor asing untuk dapat berinvestasi di Indonesia. Dengan begitu pasar keuangan Indonesia dapat berkembang pesa di dunia.

Artikel 6

Stok Melimpah, Kebutuhan Daging di Jember Aman hingga Lebaran

            Dinas peternakan, perikanan, dan kelautan (Disnakkankel) Jember, Jawa Timur, memastikan kebutuhan untuk daging, selama bulan puasa Ramadhan hingga hari raya Idul Fitri aman.“Memang untuk kebutuhan daging sapi dan ayam selama bulan puasa sampai hari raya meningkat. Tetapi stok daging yang ada kami sudah pastikan cukup hingga lebaran, bahkan hingga akhir tahun nanti,” kata kasi informasi pasar dan pengembangan investasi Disnakkankel Jember, Moch Chotib, Minggu (6/7/2014).

            Menurut dia, untuk stok daging sapi di Jember sebanyak 8.833 ton, sedangkan daging ayam sebanyak 8.542 ton. “Jumlah itu merupakan stok selama satu tahun, sedangkan untuk kebutuhan setiap tahunnya, daging sapi sebanyak 1825 ton, dan daging ayam sebanyak 4380 ton. Jadi masyarakat tidak perlu kawatir,” ungkap Chotib. Chotib menerangkan, untuk memastikan kondisi daging aman untuk dikonsumsi oleh masyarakat, pihaknya telah mengecek ke seluruh pasar. “Alhamdulillah, sejauh ini tidak ditemukan daging glongongan, maupun daging ayam tiren. Tetapi kami akan terus melakukan pemantauan secara intensif di pasar,” pungkas dia.(sumber : http://bisniskeuangan.kompas.com/)

Opini : Dengan melimpahnya stok daging diharapkan tidak terjadi kenaikan pangan yang terlalu signifikan walaupun kadang banyak pedagan nakal yang memanfaatka keuntungan berlimpah saat lebaran.

Pilpres 2014

            Hari rabu 9 Juli 2014 rakyat Indonesia akan merayakan pesta demokrasi dalam rangka pemilihan presiden periode 2014-2019. Pemilihan presiden secara langsung oleh rakyat sudah berlangsung di Indonesia sejak tahun 2004. Hal ini menunjukan bahwa bangsa Indonesia juga menjunjung demokrasi bagi rakyatnya “dari rakyat dan untuk rakyat”. Dengan adanya rasa demokrasi yang tinggi rakyat Indonesia diharapkan dapat berpartisipasi dalam pesta demokrasi 5 tahun sekali dengan menggunakan hak pilihnya pada pemilu di tahun 2014 ini. Rakyat diharapkan untuk tidak mengambil langkah golput (golongan putih).Golput adalah keputusan untuk tidak menggunakan hak pilihnya dalam pemilu. Banyak alasan masyarakat melakukan golput. Ada yang melakukan golput karena  rasa tidak percaya pada calon yang ada atau karena kurangnya pengetahuan tentang latar belakan calon yang ada. 

            Sekarang di zaman global sudah banyak wadah atau media informasi bagi rakyat untuk mengenal calon presiden atau pemimpin negara yang akan dipilihnya. Dengan adanya banyak media diharapkan rakyat bisa lebih aktif mengetahui para calon pemimpin salah satunya dengan acara debat yang diadakan di televisi. Dengan begitu para calon pemilih lebih dapat mengenal karakter dan visi misi dari para calon kandidat. Terutama bagi para pemilih pemula yang masih belum mengenal dunia politik dan keadaan negara ini. Jadi diharapkan semua rakyat Indonesia menggunakan hak pilihnya tahun ini karena satu suara kita sangat berarti dalam menentukan masa depan Indonesia. 

Article 5

Deposit rate will continue  to rise in second half

            Bank Indonesia (BI) and rating agency Moody’s Investors Service predict that banks will continue to raise time deposit rates in the second half of this year as they compete for customers’ funds against the backdrop of a tight liquidity environment. “These banks are still chasing credit growth. To do that, they need to secure funds by raising the deposit rate that will hopefully attract customers’ [funds],” BI Deputy Governor Halim Alamsyah, who is also an ex-officio member of the Financial Services Authority (OJK), said Friday.

            BI has told banks to put the brakes on lending to avoid consumption growing too fast. The central bank embarked on the most aggressive tightening cycle in the past eight years by raising its benchmark interest rate by 175 basis points last year to 7.5 percent. Since then, banks have competed to grab third-party funds at the cost of their net interest margin (NIM) being squeezed. NIM, the difference between the credit rate charged to customers and deposit rate owed to customers, is an indicator of profitability for a bank.

            According to central bank observations, the deposit rate increase is specifically aimed at big clients with large funds, such as those with funds of over Rp 25 billion (US$2.1 million) per person. Halim said that BI would be watchful of the situation, adding that banks should comply with the credit growth guideline set by financial regulators late last year. Both BI and the OJK set this year’s credit growth at 15 to 17 percent, lower than the 20 to 22 percent recorded in previous years. The third-party funds growth is also set at an almost similar rate, which is 14 to 15 percent.

            “We do not want to see banks pursuing excessive credit growth and set a much higher interest rate because it will potentially raise their NPL [non-performing loans] ratio,” he said, adding that it would also affect their NIMs. Indonesian banks are among the most profitable lenders in the world as they are still able to charge relatively high interest rates to banking customers. That translates to high NIM and high profitability. However, the banking industry has seen its average NIM slowly decline since BI decided to jack up its benchmark interest rate gradually between June and November 2013.

            The latest data from the OJK showed that the average NIM stood at 4.3 percent in April, down from 5.4 percent a year ago. Meanwhile, Moody’s confirmed BI’s conviction in its latest report, saying that competition for deposits would remain intense over the 12 to 18 months, seen by the significant increase in rates offered on deposits. “We expect competition for deposits to remain intense over the next 12-18 months, given the high system average loan-to-deposit ratio of about 90 percent on March 31, 2014, which was only slightly lower than the regulatory limit of 92 percent,” Moody’s assistant vice president and analyst, Alka Anbarasu, said.

            In the year to March 31, according to Moody’s, the rates offered on new one-month, three-month and six-month deposits rose 248 basis points (bps), 273 bps and 218 bps, respectively. The increases reflected higher policy rates, but were significantly higher than the increases in the policy rates between June and November, it said. “System-wide net interest margins, on the other hand, fell to 4.3 percent at end-March 2014 from an average of 5.4 percent between 2012 and 2013,” Moody’s added. However, despite the NIM contraction, Moody’s upheld its optimism that Indonesian banks would remain among the most profitable globally. (sumber : http://www.thejakartapost.com/)

Opini : Indonesia's economic growth rate should be further enhanced to mention especially in the world of banking and policy made by the BI should be able to benefit both parties.

Article 4

OJK moves up a gear on financial literacy

            Teachers are laypersons after all, including economics teachers. More than two years after the establishment of the Financial Services Authority (OJK), many of these teachers are still clueless about the superbody’s role in the economy.Pieter L. Maurits was not sure about the OJK’s role in society. The high school teacher from Ambon, Maluku province, was aware it existed, but could not quite place its position among other state agencies, such as Bank Indonesia (BI).

            “I know what BI does, but the OJK is still a somewhat vague concept,” he said recently.Budiyono, a teacher from Semarang, Central Java, was just as clueless as Pieter. “How does the OJK differ from Bapepam-LK [the Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Agency]?” he asked.Little did Budiyono know, the Bapepam was no longer around and that its functions had been taken over by the OJK in 2013.

            These teachers are the target audience of a training forum held on July 2 to July 3 by the OJK, Education and Culture Ministry and the Economics Teachers’ Association, which aims to boost the financial literacy of teachers.The forum was attended by 70 economics teachers, who hailed from all 34 provinces across the archipelago. These teachers could pass on the knowledge to their students, so they can become more knowledgeable about the available facilities to access finance and better manage their money.

            OJK commissioner for education and consumer protection Kusumaningtuti S. Soetiono said that the superbody expected the training to eventually help boost Indonesians’ financial literacy to the same level currently reported by peers Malaysia and Singapore.“About 62 percent of our population lives in rural areas and inlands. That’s why we are coordinating with the Education and Culture Ministry to spread knowledge, but it will take more than five years to do that,” she said.

            Meanwhile, Deputy Education and Culture Minister Musliar Kasim said that the training was part of the ministry’s and OJK’s effort to prepare them to begin educating students and their fellow teachers about the OJK and existing financial services institutions.“Tenth grade students will be taught a subject on the OJK starting this year. It’s part of the new curriculum,” he said.Musliar admitted that there was unequal knowledge of financial institutions across the country. “Let’s be frank, most of us find out about insurance and banking products after we graduate from college,” he said.

            The shallow knowledge is in line with the OJK’s and World Bank’s studies’ findings that say only 20 to 30 percent of Indonesia’s total population have access to financial products or are financially literate.This was somewhat reflected on the first day of the forum, when the teachers underwent a “pre-test”, conducted to measure the teachers’ knowledge. According to the results, the best teacher only scored 77.5 out of 100, while the lowest score stood at 27.5.During a session, the teachers fell into a trap prepared by the OJK when the forum’s moderator offered them an “investment opportunity”.

            Under the “investment scheme”, teachers were offered hefty return if they were willing to deposit Rp 1 million (US$84) per person. The funds would be used to assist the reproduction of OJK books. “We still need Rp 10 billion for the books and are hoping you can fill the funding gap,” the moderator said. Hands then sprung, representing dozens of interested teachers, but they could only giggle sheepishly when they found out that they had been “duped”. At the end of the training, Wiji Purwanto, the association’s head, said that it would consider holding another training forum for its 20,686 members. “We conducted a post-test to see how they fared after two days. Four teachers got the highest score with 90. Not bad. They’re ready,” he said. ( sumber : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/05/ojk-moves-a-gear-financial-literacy.html)

Opini : The Government should create more forums like this so that people can better know about ojk and function of ojk itself not only to teachers and students but for people from different circles should also give additional knowledge.

Article 3

Dubai to build world's biggest shopping center

            The shopping-loving city that is home to one of the world's largest shopping malls wants to build one even bigger. Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has laid out plans for a sprawling real-estate project known as Mall of the World that will include the 8 million square foot (743,224 square meter) mall, a climate-controlled street network, a theme park covered during the scorching summer months and 100 hotels and serviced apartments.

            Other attractions planned for the site include a cultural and theater district drawing inspiration from New York's Broadway, shopping thoroughfares based on London's Oxford Street and a "wellness district" meant to attract medical tourists."The growth in family and retail tourism underpins the need to enhance Dubai's tourism infrastructure as soon as possible," Sheik Mohammed said in a statement announcing the project Saturday. "This project complements our plans to transform Dubai into a cultural, tourist and economic hub for the 2 billion people living in the region around us — and we are determined to achieve our vision."

            Dubai Holding, a conglomerate controlled by the emirate's ruler, is developing the complex. It gave no details on the cost or the completion date.The complex will be built near the Mall of the Emirates, which boasts an indoor ski slope, and a short drive from the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower, and the adjacent Dubai Mall. That shopping center is currently the emirate's largest and has attractions including a dinosaur skeleton, an indoor ice skating rink and a multistory aquarium.

            Dubai has long used high-profile, big-ticket real estate projects to drive economic growth and establish itself as an international tourist destination. Its ambitions were slowed significantly with a crippling financial crisis that came to a head in 2009, forcing the delay or cancellation of some of the most outlandish projects.Dubai Holding was not spared from the financial turmoil, and some of its divisions sought new repayment terms from lenders on a debt pile that reached into the billions of dollars.

            The emirate's economy has rebounded strongly in the years since the crisis, driven by its trade, transportation and tourism-dependent economy.Dubai is racing to develop additional infrastructure needed to accommodate a surge in visitors expected when it becomes the first Middle Eastern city to host the World Expo in 2020. Authorities expect the expo will generate $23 billion between 2015 and 2021, and estimate it will cost $8.4 billion to organize. The new mall project alone is expected to create an additional 20,000 hotel rooms.(sumber : The shopping-loving city that is home to one of the world's largest shopping malls wants to build one even bigger.

            Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has laid out plans for a sprawling real-estate project known as Mall of the World that will include the 8 million square foot (743,224 square meter) mall, a climate-controlled street network, a theme park covered during the scorching summer months and 100 hotels and serviced apartments.Other attractions planned for the site include a cultural and theater district drawing inspiration from New York's Broadway, shopping thoroughfares based on London's Oxford Street and a "wellness district" meant to attract medical tourists.

            "The growth in family and retail tourism underpins the need to enhance Dubai's tourism infrastructure as soon as possible," Sheik Mohammed said in a statement announcing the project Saturday. "This project complements our plans to transform Dubai into a cultural, tourist and economic hub for the 2 billion people living in the region around us — and we are determined to achieve our vision."Dubai Holding, a conglomerate controlled by the emirate's ruler, is developing the complex. It gave no details on the cost or the completion date.

            The complex will be built near the Mall of the Emirates, which boasts an indoor ski slope, and a short drive from the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower, and the adjacent Dubai Mall. That shopping center is currently the emirate's largest and has attractions including a dinosaur skeleton, an indoor ice skating rink and a multistory aquarium. Dubai has long used high-profile, big-ticket real estate projects to drive economic growth and establish itself as an international tourist destination. Its ambitions were slowed significantly with a crippling financial crisis that came to a head in 2009, forcing the delay or cancellation of some of the most outlandish projects.

            Dubai Holding was not spared from the financial turmoil, and some of its divisions sought new repayment terms from lenders on a debt pile that reached into the billions of dollars.The emirate's economy has rebounded strongly in the years since the crisis, driven by its trade, transportation and tourism-dependent economy.Dubai is racing to develop additional infrastructure needed to accommodate a surge in visitors expected when it becomes the first Middle Eastern city to host the World Expo in 2020. Authorities expect the expo will generate $23 billion between 2015 and 2021, and estimate it will cost $8.4 billion to organize.The new mall project alone is expected to create an additional 20,000 hotel rooms. (sumber : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/06/dubai-build-worlds-biggest-shopping-center.html)

Opini  : Dubai will become the more advanced countries in the world in the future. Become one of the countries in the Middle East that has entertainment industry  grown rapidly and can compete with the West.

Article 2

Analysts excited by Asia’s rising power but warn of economic and political  downside risks

Asia’s regional experts are quite excited about the continued robust growth of the Asian economy as the economic gravity has moved from the West to the East but warned of several political and economic downside risks that could lead many countries in the region into the middle-income trap.

Bank DBS Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta and chief economist David Carbon briefed the around 500 businesspeople and analysts attending the DBS Asian Insights Conference here on Friday on how the rising power of Asian giants (notably China, India and Indonesia) would change the structure of the global economy.

Even after the growth in China now has declined to about 7.6 percent and the expansion in India and Indonesia has also moderated Asia (excluding Japan) would still put three Eurozoes (in economic size) on the global economic map within 25 years, Carbon noted at the first plenary session on Asian giants.

“Asia (excluding Japan) with a combined gross domestic product of US$16 trillion, or about similar to the US economy will continue to be the main locomotive of the world economy,” Carbon added.

However, the four panelists at the session warned that political divisiveness, indequate pace of reform measures and inequality in income distribution and asset ownership could stifle the growth and lead Asian major economies into a middle-income trap.

Two of the paneliss, Jusuf Wanandi, co-chair of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), and Tommy Koh, Singapore’s Ambassador at Large, cited the tensions between China, now the world’s second largest economy, and its neighbors over South China Sea as a major political downside risk to sustainable growth in the region.

“Indonesia has been enjoying good relations with China and our bilateral economic ties have been quite strong, but China seems to have been more assertive now with its rising power,” Wanandi said.

“How China with its rising economic power will behave towards its neighbors will impact on the future economic growth and integration in the egion,” Koh pointed out.

The two other panelists, Duvvuri Subbarao, former governor of the Reserve of India, and Li Mingjiang, coordinator of the China Program at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Relations pointed to the need for a continued high pace of structural reform in Asia, otherwise many major economies in the region would remain trapped in the middle-income club.

Subbarao and Mingjiang shared the views that Asian high growth would be sustainable only if reform and infrastructure deveopment would be accelerated and clean governance strengthened.

The plenary session was supposed to focus on the economic issues related to the Asian giants but participants at the meeting and journalists at a later news conference bombarded Wanandi with questions about the upcoming presidential elections in Indonesia and how the outcome would impact on future economic policies.

“To be honest with you I am a partisan supporter of Jokowi (presidential candidate Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo), so please be critical on what I said. But the reality is I don’t want authoritarian rule back in my country,” Wanandi asserted.

He said the development concepts of both candidates are strikingly different. While presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto aspires to restore authoritarian rule as that under Soeharto, Jokowi has strongly been committed to strengthening the democracy process.

“The most pressing problem now is how to prevent cheating in the voting, without which Prabowo will never win,” Wanandi added. (sumber : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/04/analysts-excited-asia-s-rising-power-warn-economic-and-political-downside-risks.html)

Opini : DBS bank held Conference to consider how Asian economic position in the future as asia mainly China has an economy that is good enough in a country like America to compensate. Indonesia was expected to boost the economy in the future.

Article 1

Obama not mulling new bank reform , spokesman says

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- President Barack Obama is not considering new legislation to regulate the financial sector, despite his suggestion in a radio interview on Wednesday night that reform of the sector remained unfinished, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Thursday. "The president wasn't referring to any specific regulation or law that he had in mind, but rather the need to continue to vigilantly monitor financial markets, to assess risks that may be emerging and to ensure that the necessary regulatory protections are in place," Earnest said during the daily press briefing. Obama told Marketplace that bank reform was "an unfinished piece of business." He said that regulators "continue to see a lot of these banks take big risks because the profit incentive and the bonus incentive is there for them" rather than " doing what it is supposed to be doing to grow the real economy." 1:32 p.m. July 3, 2014 (sumber : http://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics)

Opini : President obama is not too hurry in taking decisions especially in making law. He would prefer to see the State first and find a good way out for the future.