Indonesia Plans 10 GW Nuclear Power in Major Renewable Energy Push, Presidential Aide Says

Indonesia plans a major expansion in renewable energy by 2040, including the introduction of 10 GW of nuclear power, and expects contracts to be given in the next five years, a senior aide of President Prabowo Subianto said in an interview. 

That would more than double current capacity as Indonesia, one of the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, aims for carbon neutrality before 2050, said Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Prabowo's brother and the president's special envoy for energy and climate. 

"Many of the contracts will be ... in the next five years ... especially the nuclear (contracts) because of the long lead times," Hashim told Reuters from New York. 

By 2040, he said Indonesia aims to have an additional 103 GW power capacity, made up of 75 GW from solar, wind, geothermal and biomass, 10 GW from nuclear energy, and the remaining 18 GW from gas. 

Indonesia's current installed power capacity is around 90 GW, more than half of it from coal. Renewables account for less than 15 GW of the current capacity, and the country has no nuclear power plants. 

Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom, China National Nuclear Corporation, Britain's Rolls Royce, France's EDF and the U.S. small modular reactor firm NuScale Power Corporation have shown interest in Indonesia's nuclear power ambitions, Hashim said. 

"I think it's conceivable that they will co-invest with an institution like Danantara," he said, referring to the recently launched Danantara Indonesia sovereign wealth fund. 

Hashim said no decisions had been made about the location of the nuclear plants, a controversial topic in a country that straddles the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where different plates on the Earth's crust meet increasing the risk of earthquakes and volcanic activity. 

He said the western part of Indonesia was suitable for single-site nuclear plants that a single unit can generate around 1 GW of power, while floating small-modular reactors generating up to 700 megawatts were suitable in the east. 

While the government is committed to energy transition, Hashim said it would take a balanced approach to achieving that goal as the president tries to lift the country's economic growth rate to 8% from around 5% in recent years. 

"The government does not want to commit economic suicide. There'll be no phase out, but there will be a phase down," he said. 

A deal with the Asian Development Bank for the early retirement of the 660 megawatt Cirebon-1 coal-fired plant in West Java province, which is backed by the USD 20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), is expected to be completed in the next few months, Hashim said. 

Source: Reuters 

Electricity Bills and Gold Prices Push April Inflation to 1.17%

Indonesia’s monthly inflation rose to 1.17% in April, driven primarily by higher electricity tariffs and surging gold jewelry prices, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported on Friday. 

Although the April inflation rate was lower than the 1.65% recorded in March, the country still saw a year-on-year inflation rate of 1.95%, according to BPS. 

Pudji Ismartini, a deputy at BPS, told a press conference that the housing, electricity, and household fuel group contributed the most to April’s inflation, accounting for 0.98% of the total. 

“Electricity tariffs alone contributed 0.97% to overall monthly inflation,” Pudji said, noting an average increase of 26.99% in electricity prices. 

The spike follows the government’s decision to end a 50% discount on post-paid electricity bills, allowing rates to return to normal levels. 

Gold jewelry was the second-largest contributor to inflation, accounting for 0.16% of the monthly rise. This was driven by continued increases in global gold prices. According to BPS, gold jewelry experienced a record-breaking 10.52% month-to-month inflation. 

“This is the highest monthly inflation for gold jewelry in the past 20 months,” Pudji said, adding that the category had not seen double-digit inflation since at least early 2023. 

Some food commodities also saw price increases in April. Shallots contributed 0.06% to the overall inflation, while red chilies and tomatoes added 0.04% and 0.03%, respectively -- each a staple in Indonesian cuisine. 

However, price declines in other food items helped ease the overall inflation rate. Bird’s eye chilies contributed 0.08% in deflation, followed by 0.06% broiler chicken and 0.04% chicken eggs. 

Source: Jakarta Globe 
 

Fiscal Revenue Down 17% Year-on-Year in First Quarter
 

State revenue in the first three months of this year fell 17% year-on-year (yoy) as the country struggled to collect taxes amid weaker corporate earnings.  

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told a press conference on Wednesday that revenue in the first quarter reached IDR 516.1 trillion (USD 31 billion), down from IDR 620.01 trillion recorded in the same period last year.  

This was due to an 18% contraction in tax revenue and a 26% fall in nontax revenue, which outweighed the 12.3% increase in revenue from customs and excise.  

The ministry’s senior leadership did not address the decline directly, and Sri Mulyani said the March figure had “shown signs of promising improvement”.  

At the end of March, the 2025 state budget amounted to 0.43% of gross domestic product (GDP), compared to a budget surplus of 0.04% of GDP after the first quarter of 2024.  

"Last year, when you were sitting here with me, I also reported that our tax revenue had contracted in the first semester. So, I hope our media colleagues still remember the reports from last year to help provide context and avoid false or excessive alarm. But we remain vigilant,” the minister said. 
 

The ministry’s state budget update for March 2025 lacked the typical details provided at these briefings.  

Neither Sri Mulyani nor her deputy for revenue, Anggito Abimanyu, explained what had caused the drop, and the ministry leadership neither provided the annual change by percentage nor displayed the latest figures side by side with the preceding year’s readings.  

The update also did present the net figures for each component of tax revenue, though Anggito showed an improvement in “average gross tax collection” from December through March compared to previous years.  

A closer look at the numbers reveals that this was due largely to strong gross tax collection in December. Unlike net revenue, which represents final income the state pockets, gross revenue does not take into account tax restitution, or tax refunds for overpayment.  

Anggito also pointed to a rise in the “adjusted” average of personal income tax (PPh 21) for period of the December through March. He explained that the adjustment presumed normal conditions to illustrate the amount of income tax collected in an apples-to-apples comparison, given that taxpayers were given leeway this year to file their taxes after the March 31 deadline.  

According to earlier reports, some taxpayers were allowed to submit later due to technical problems with the Coretax IT system.  

Initially meant to go fully online in January 2025, technical glitches have marred Coretax, leading to erroneously blank filings and non-issuance of tax invoices due to unstable and slow services. 
 
 

A source at the Taxation Directorate General who requested anonymity told The Jakarta Post on March 7 that a branch office had booked a 30 percent yoy decline in tax revenue in January, primarily due to the troublesome new online filing system.  

In press releases that were later deleted, the East Java and Papua tax offices blamed the switch to the Coretax system for the drop in tax collection in their regions.  

In an analysis on April 30, Bank Danamon economist Hosianna Evalita Situmorang wrote that the drop in state revenue was attributable to "weaker commodity-linked income and base effects from windfall revenues in early 2024".  

She added that the decline in tax revenue was due to “softer corporate earnings and labor income, particularly in resource-based industries”. 
 
Source: The Jakarta Post