After Rejecting IMF, Prabowo Affirms Indonesia Does Not Want to Borrow Much

President Prabowo Subianto has affirmed that he will continue the austerity policies of his administration. He also stressed that he wants to reduce the dependence of the State Budget (APBN) on loans.

This was conveyed by Prabowo at the closing of the 35th Nahdlatul Ulama Congress at the Bahrul Ulum Tambakberas Islamic Boarding School in Jombang, East Java, on Monday (31/8/2026).

Prabowo emphasised that his administration has implemented savings across various sectors amounting to approximately Rp 200–300 trillion each year. This money will subsequently be channelled as much as possible to programmes that directly reach the public.

“This is what we are using, brothers and sisters. And we are now trying not to borrow too much money from anywhere,” Prabowo said in his remarks.

Even if it is truly needed, Prabowo said he would only borrow money if offered at a low interest rate.

“Investment is welcome, brothers and sisters. If we borrow money, we want to borrow money with the smallest possible interest rate,” Prabowo stated.

On that occasion, Prabowo also recounted that the government had previously rejected a loan offered by the international financial institution, the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“I think a few months ago our finance minister was surprised in Washington DC when offered something—a loan from the IMF—and we rejected it. Thank you, Indonesia can still manage without a loan from the IMF,” he said.

Previously, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa also recounted receiving a loan offer from the World Bank and IMF worth US$25 billion to US$30 billion to secure Indonesia’s fiscal position amid economic uncertainty caused by ongoing wars. The offer emerged on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meeting in Washington DC on 13–18 April 2026.

“I told him that I do not need it yet because I myself have reserves of almost US$25 billion for our own country, so we are safe,” Purbaya said at the Juanda I Building of the Ministry of Finance in Jakarta on Tuesday (21/4/2026).

Purbaya even recounted that the faces of the World Bank and IMF leaders immediately turned sour in response to the rejection, as they were considered to have lost potential income from debt interest.

“Their faces turned sour because they could not lend money and could not earn interest. But in any condition, what we have must be used as the most optimal weapon,” Purbaya revealed.

“If there is more, we use it; if there is less, we also use it. The point is we never lose. So we design policies properly, we calculate the impact, not by guesswork,” he asserted.