Indonesia tax amnesty may miss target

JAKARTA • Indonesia's tax amnesty is being held back by a limited choice of investment options for individuals and companies to repatriate their funds into, National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said.

The amnesty plan has been a policy of President Joko Widodo, with the government hoping it will add as much as 165 trillion rupiah (S$17 billion) to revenue. Inflows have reached about 4.6 per cent of the government's revenue target as of yesterday.

Meanwhile, central bank governor Agus Martowardojo said Bank Indonesia may ease its monetary policy this month or next, depending on supportive economic data.

REUTERS

MasterCard faces $25b damages claim

LONDON • Some 46 million people in Britain could potentially benefit from a legal case brought against MasterCard demanding £14 billion (S$25.2 billion) in damages for allegedly charging excessive fees, according to court documents.

The case brought by a former chief financial services ombudsman alleges the payments company charged unlawfully high fees to stores when shoppers swiped their debit or credit cards and these were passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.

REUTERS