TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesia Stock Exchange temporarily halted stock trading in the first session on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at 11:19:31 Jakarta Automated Trading System (JATS) time. The trading halt came as the IHSG plummeted 5.02 percent to 5,146. The transaction value in the first session reached Rp3.39 trillion, involving 13.12 billion in 748 thousand transactions. All sectors were in the red zone.

The Corporate Secretary of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), Kautsar Primadi Nurahmad, conveyed the reasons for implementing the trading halt through a written statement. "With this, we inform that today, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, a temporary trading halt (trading halt) has occurred in the trading system at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) at 11:19:31 Jakarta Automated Trading System (JATS) time, triggered by a 5 percent decrease in the Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG)."

According to an economist from the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), Nailul Huda, the decline in stock trading has occurred since March 14, 2025. He said one of the triggers is the revision of the TNI Bill. "In fact, the cumulative effect of several recent policies, one of which is about our state budget. But it seems that the impact of this TNI bill is significant," said Huda to Tempo, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

He believes that the increased presence of the military and police in civilian areas will lead to confusion in law enforcement in the event of violations. According to Huda, abandoning the merit-based system will also eliminate public transparency. At this time, the entry of military force into the economic field is already visible.

An example is the position of the CEO of the State-owned Logistics Agency (Bulog) occupied by Major General Novi Helmy Prasetya, an active-duty military without a managerial or agricultural background. "The CEO of Bulog doesn't understand agricultural issues, so they will eventually force low-priced grain acquisition. Investors are concerned about this and are selling off their shares," said Huda.

He believes that military involvement like this discourages investors. "What's the point of competing with 'military' companies for non-military products? So it will have a negative impact on investors' willingness to invest," he added.

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