World Bank: Announcement of Presidential Candidate Gives Greater Certainty

Jakarta (Antara) - World Bank economist Jim Brumby said the market reacted positively to the announcement of a presidential candidate last week as it gave greater certainty ahead of the general elections. Brumby apparently referred to the announcement of Joko Widodo, the populist Jakarta governor as the presidential candidate by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP). The announcement on Friday last week jacked up the prices of shares at the Indonesian Stock Exchange when most markets in Asia suffered a decline on Ukraine crisis. "The market players finally saw certainty related to the forthcoming elections after they had been facing a period of uncertainty," Brumby said here on Tuesday. He said the reaction shown by the market did not necessarily mean expression of support for Jokowi , but the reaction is more to the favorable condition created . The condition allows the market players to map out their programs before and after the elections based on the situation they are facing, he said. "Before the announcement we could only guess the condition ahead of the election amid uncertainty , but after the announcement, certainty began to show that draws positive reaction from the market," he said. The index of the Indonesian Stock Exchange closed 152.48 points or 3.13 percent higher at 4,878.64 points on political sentiment in the country. The index of 45 most liquid stock also surged 4.37 percent to 830.67 points . Finance Minister Chatib Basri attributed the surge in the BEI index to domestic sentiment amid a shrinkage in the regional market. (*)