Indonesia unveils stimulus to bolster economy, currency

Jakarta

INDONESIA'S president on Wednesday unveiled the first installment of a stimulus package aimed at luring more investment, boosting consumer spending, and supporting a currency that has weakened to 17-year lows.

Investor sentiment towards South-east Asia's largest economy has soured, as President Joko Widodo struggles to implement much needed reforms, hobbled by rifts within his own political party and squabbles among government agencies.

In a live television broadcast, the Indonesian leader who is popularly known as Jokowi, announced a series of measures to attract investment, such as streamlining dozens of overlapping trade and industry regulations, simplifying the permission process for "strategic projects", and easing rules for…