#1 Indonesia's Indrawati to stay on as finance minister

TUE, OCT 22, 2019 - 1:29 PM

[JAKARTA] Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Tuesday

she had been asked by President Joko Widodo to stay on in her post as his new
Cabinet takes shape for a second five-year term in office.

Mr Joko has since Monday tapped more than a dozen candidates for ministerial
posts, including his presidential election rival Prabowo Subianto, who looks set to
be defence minister.

The candidates - all wearing white shirts - have come to the presidential palace to
be interviewed by Mr Joko, with most declining to confirm the positions offered
ahead of an official announcement expected on Wednesday.

After meeting Mr Joko, Dr Indrawati said she had agreed to stay on as finance
minister and to ensure policies supported the president's priorities such as
improving human resources, creating jobs and executing government budgets well.

"Indonesia I think is facing a very dynamic and uncertain global economy and an
economic slowdown that is pressuring the whole world," Dr Indrawati said.

"Therefore, a continued policy is needed in order to be able to guard our economy

from the challenge of this global slowdown," she said, noting she also discussed
ways to narrow Indonesia's current account and trade deficits.

Dr Indrawati, a former managing director of the World Bank, has been finance
minister in South-east Asia's largest economy since 2016, spearheading tax reform
efforts, seeking to capitalise on a tax amnesty programme in 2016-2017. She is
now one of the longest serving finance ministers in Indonesia, having also held the
post in the previous administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"Sri Mulyani is seen as a key architect behind the fiscal discipline in recent years
and many wish for her continued leadership in driving deeper fiscal reforms," Bank
of America wrote in a note.

The make-up of the Cabinet is being closely watched to see how many technocrats
- who are more likely to fall in with Mr Joko's plans for boosting growth and
investment - were included.

Other ministerial candidates who came to the palace on Tuesday included Basuki
Hadimuljono, who is credited with driving infrastructure projects as public works
minister in Mr Joko's first term, and Siti Nurbaya Bakar, environment minister in
the first term.

On Monday, Nadiem Makarim, the chief executive of tech startup Gojek and
media tycoon Erick Thohir, a former chairman of Italian soccer club Inter Milan,
were among those confirming they had been asked to join the Cabinet.

Speaking to media ahead of his inauguration on Sunday, Mr Joko said around 16

ministers in the new cabinet would come from political parties out of an
anticipated 34 posts. 

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/indonesias-indrawati-to-
stay-on-as-finance-minister
#2 Saving and Investing
 
A High School Economics Guide
Supplementary resources for high school students
Definitions and Basics
What’s the difference between saving and investing? The terms saving and
investing are often used interchangeably, but there’s a difference. See Smart
About Money, from the National Endowment for Financial Planning:
 Saving is setting aside money you don’t spend now for emergencies or for a
future purchase. It’s money you want to be able to access quickly, with little
or no risk, and with the least amount of taxes. Financial institutions offer a
number of different savings options.
 Investing is buying assets such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds or real estate
with the expectation that your investment will make money for you.
Investments usually are selected to achieve long-term goals. Generally
speaking, investments can be categorized as income investments or growth
investments.
Saving, from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
Saving means different things to different people. To some it means putting money
in the bank. To others it means buying stocks or contributing to a pension plan.
But to economists, saving means only one thing—consuming less in the present in
order to consume more in the future.
An easy way to understand the economist’s view of saving—and its importance for
economic growth—is to consider an economy in which there is a single
commodity, say, corn. The amount of corn on hand at any point in time can either
be consumed (literally gobbled up) or saved. Any corn that is saved is immediately
planted (invested), yielding more corn in the future. Hence, saving adds to the
stock of corn in the ground, or in economic jargon, the stock of capital. The greater
the stock of capital, the greater the amount of future corn, which can, in turn, either
be consumed or saved….
Investment, from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
Although in general parlance investment may connote many types of economic
activity, economists normally use the term to describe the purchase of durable
goods by households, businesses, and governments. Private (nongovernmental)
investment is commonly divided into three broad categories: residential
investment, which accounts for about a quarter of all private investment (25.7
percent in 1990); nonresidential, or business, fixed investment, which accounts for
most of the remainder; and inventory investment, which is small but volatile.
Indeed, inventory investment is often negative (it was in 1990, and in three years
during the eighties). Business fixed investment, in turn, is composed of equipment
and nonresidential structures. Equipment now makes up over three-quarters of
business investment….
Understand the power of compounding. Compound Interest, from our College
Topics Guide.
When you borrow or lend money, you pay or receive interest. Compound
interest is paid on the original principal and on the accumulated past interest.
The Miracle of Compound Returns, from the Marginal Revolution University
“Money Skills” course.
Diversification: How to Spread It Around, at SocialStudiesforKids.com.
Diversification can best be described by the following phrase: “Don’t put all your
eggs in one basket.”
That means several things, depending on what part of economics we’re discussing.
In every case, though, it means to spread out your money or your time or your
other resources….