Indonesia in statistics
Real GDP is projected to grow by 4.7 percent in 2025 and 4.8 percent in 2026. Low inflation and easing financial conditions will spur private consumption and investment. However, uncertainty about domestic fiscal policy will temper these gains, while export growth is expected to slow amid global trade tensions. Inflation is projected to pick up to 2.3 percent in 2025 and 3 percent in 2026, as the recent depreciation of the currency gradually feeds into domestic prices. The current account deficit is expected to widen modestly, but a further decline in commodity prices could exacerbate this by driving down export revenues. Monetary policy is expected to continue to ease over 2025 and 2026, as inflationary pressures remain contained amid soft growth. Fiscal policy is projected to be broadly neutral in 2025, as increased spending on a free meals programme and additional public investment through the new sovereign wealth fund (“Danantara”) will be financed by spending cuts elsewhere. Reducing regulatory barriers to foreign investment and raising the efficiency of public spending through improved targeting of social benefits to vulnerable households are key medium-term policy priorities. Reducing informality would help improve social protection and raise tax revenues.
| Global GDP | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Region | 2026 GDP (Billions) | Readable Label |
| 1 | Asia | $39,064.88 | $39.1T |
| 2 | North America | $37,096.07 | $37.1T |
| 3 | Europe | $31,633.85 | $31.6T |
| 4 | Middle East | $5,446.16 | $5.4T |
| 5 | South America | $4,506.53 | $4.5T |
| 6 | Africa | $3,316.87 | $3.3T |
| 7 | Oceania | $2,275.92 | $2.3T |
| N/A | World | $123,584 | $123.6T |
Nation’s economy set for stronger growth in 2025: Anwar
Malaysia’s economic growth in 2025 is poised to exceed earlier projections, buoyed by strong performance across key sectors and sustained investor confidence, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the national economy remained robust, recording a commendable 4.4 percent growth in the first half of the year, with third-quarter figures projected at 5.2 percent.
“The overall growth this year has the potential to reach a higher level than initially forecast,” he told the Dewan Rakyat during Minister’s Question Time on Tuesday.
Responding to a question from Aminolhuda Hassan (PH–Sri Gading) on the progress of the MADANI Economic Policy, Anwar, who also serves as Finance Minister, said Malaysia’s trade performance continued to show positive momentum.
Total trade from January to September rose 4.4 percent to RM2.24 trillion.
“This was achieved despite global economic uncertainty, particularly due to tariffs imposed by (US President) Donald Trump. Yet, total trade still increased to around RM2.24 trillion,” he said.
Anwar also highlighted that Malaysia’s competitiveness had improved significantly, as the nation climbed 11 places to rank 23rd in the 2025 World Competitiveness Index — its best performance since 2020.
Qatar, Japan launch $2.5billion private equity fund
Qatar and Japan have partnered to create a $2.5 billion private equity fund, marking the Gulf state’s first domestic investment into the Asian country.
Qatar Investment Authority and Japan’s ORIX Corp. announced the establishment of a commitment-based private equity fund, OQCI Fund LP, according to the Qatar News Agency.
QIA is expected to commit $1 billion to the fund, representing 40 percent of total capital, while ORIX will contribute the remaining 60 percent.
The fund will invest in Japanese companies, primarily targeting corporate transfers, privatizations of listed firms, and spin-offs through the separation or divestment of subsidiaries or business divisions. Individual investments could reach 30 billion yen ($200 million).
This comes as around 30 Japanese companies are active in Qatar as of 2024, mainly in the oil, gas, and infrastructure sectors. Strategic partnerships, including liquefied natural gas production and supply agreements between QatarEnergy and Japanese firms such as JERA and Mitsui, underscore the depth of this long-standing relationship, reinforced by major engineering and construction projects.
QIA holds about 100 billion yen in Japanese investments, including a 5 percent stake in Kokusai Electric and residential real estate across key Japanese cities.
Maldives pioneers eco-driven tourism approach: minister
The Maldives’ tourism model is built on a delicate balance between economic growth and environmental preservation, Minister of Tourism and Environment Thoriq Ibrahim said in an interview ahead of the UN’s Tourism 2025 event.
“In the Maldives, we have luxury resorts — one resort, one island — which means that tourists live on a separate island,” Ibrahim said. “Most of the tourism resorts are like deserted islands, so that’s where we stand out from other countries.”
Ibrahim explained that sustainability is a legal requirement at every stage of development. Before any resort construction begins, developers must carry out a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment to identify and mitigate potential damage to surrounding ecosystems.
“When one builds a resort, they first have to do an Environmental Impact Assessment to make sure that when they build the resort, there is minimal environmental impact,” he said.
Each resort, the minister noted, is designed to operate independently, with its own waste management, water production, and energy systems — an approach that promotes environmental self-sufficiency.
India’s carbon market needs a price stability mechanism?
India has taken a pivotal step with the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, a national carbon market that puts a price on emissions across nine industrial sectors. Carbon markets work by moving pollution from an unpriced externality into day-to-day decisions, so efficiency upgrades, cleaner fuels and low-carbon technologies become financial investments. A credible, sustained carbon price can steer a fast-growing economy towards a competitive low-carbon path.
With its Carbon Credit Trading Scheme set to begin compliance in 2026, India has an opportunity to learn from international experience and embed market stability mechanisms, avoiding the costly corrections that have challenged compliance carbon markets worldwide.
India has opted for a baseline-and-credit system with an intensity-based carbon market to balance climate goals with economic growth. These systems are well-suited to early-stage decarbonization, when regulators are still developing abatement cost estimates, sectoral benchmarks and an emissions data repository. Targeting emissions per output unit, avoids penalizing economic expansion, while promoting industrial modernization.
Sri Lanka in short review
The year 2024 was a watershed for Sri Lanka, with two national elections held in quick succession: a presidential poll in September and parliamentary elections in November. These were the first national contests conducted against the backdrop of a deep economic crisis and the mass citizen movement known as the Aragalaya (“Struggle”), which demanded sweeping political and economic change. Uniting Sri Lankans across class, ethnic, and religious lines, the movement marked a rare moment of collective action against corruption, nepotism, and economic mismanagement.
The National People’s Power (NPP) party, a left-leaning political alliance, captured the public’s imagination with its manifesto, which detailed lofty goals of abolishing the executive presidency, renegotiating Sri Lanka’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) program to provide fairer terms for the people, establishing a director of public prosecutions (DPP) to address delays in justice, delivering accountability for the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, and enacting legal reforms such as the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), among others. The alliance’s leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, was elected president in September, and the NPP went on to win 159 of 225 parliamentary seats in November—securing a two-thirds majority under Sri Lanka’s proportional representation system.
In November’s parliamentary election, the NPP swept most electoral districts, including those in the conflict-affected Northern and Eastern provinces, becoming the first southern political alliance to do so. This reflected both voter apathy toward traditional Tamil parties and the fragmentation of votes that were previously with the Tamil parties. Taken together, these results signaled a broad rejection of the governance style associated with Sri Lanka’s entrenched political elites. Against the backdrop of the Aragalaya that saw Sri Lankans demand a new political culture, many voters opted for change, electing candidates who were new both to government and to Parliament. With the NPP government now marking one year in office, the promised transformation has not yet begun to take root.