May 18 16:45 Bank Indonesia denies planning to apply foreign exchange control policy Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - Bank Indonesia (BI - central bank) Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah on Thursday denied rumours that the central bank would apply a foreign exchange control policy to prevent the rupiah from weakening. "That is something impossible. Truly, we never even dreamt of doing that," he told reporters following a seminar here.

May 19, 2006 RISKY BUSINESS Indonesia's economic reform tightrope By Federico Bordonaro President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is actively wooing new foreign investment to boost the Indonesian economy. While that newfound openness definitely sends a positive signal overseas, he still faces four big problems at home that seriously hinder his ambition to speed up economic growth.

More Indonesian Workers in Singapore Commit Suicide Thursday, 18 May, 2006 | 15:33 WIB TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The number of Indonesian workers (TKI) in Singapore committing suicide has increased. Fachry Sulaiman, Head of the Consular Section at the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, said that in addition to death by suicide, workers also died due to traffic and work accidents.

May 18 13:22 Indonesia shares fall 3.62 percent, rupiah at fresh low Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian share prices slid 3.62 percent during the morning session Thursday amid worries over further US interest rate hikes and as the rupiah also fell sharply against the dollar, dealers said. At the midday break, the Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index was down 52.889 points at 1,409.269, off an intra-day low of 1,375.069.

Indonesians main buyers of Singapore apartments The Jakarta Post, Singapore Indonesians are registered as the largest foreign buyers of high-end homes in Singapore, exceeding other traditional buyers like Malaysia and Hong Kong, a report said.

Is it true that Indonesia is attractive for investment? From past discussions here, and reading the media, I thought that the Goverment were trying to change things around because Indonesia is not a place people wanted to do business. Not so long ago i read something about how the government were cracking down on immigration as Business men from other countries were complaining there rights were being abused.

May 18 10:37 Rupiah fall driven by global factors - Budiono Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The rupiah's fresh slide against the dllar is caused by global factors, given that government policies remain atractive for investment here, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Budiono said. In early morning trade the rupiah fell to 9,250/9,270 to the dollar, sharply down from yesterday's level of 8,910/8,920.

May 17 20:38 Plantations in C Kalimantan keep expanding Palangka Raya (ANTARA News) - The planting of oil palm, rubber and coconut trees as well as other plantation commodities in Central Kalimantan has kept on expanding thanks to the implementation of the plantation commodities cultivation program in the region.