Bakom affirms no discourse on making BI part of government

The Indonesian Government Communication Agency (Bakom RI) has affirmed that there has never been any discourse on making Bank Indonesia (BI) a part of the government.

The statement was delivered by Bakom RI Principal Expert Fithra Faisal Hastiadi amid scrutiny of the central bank’s independence.

“There has never been any discourse to incorporate Bank Indonesia into the government. Because that is already part of our constitution,” Fithra said during a discussion in Jakarta on Thursday.

According to Fithra, BI’s position as an independent central bank already has a constitutional basis, so discussions about BI’s independence should not be viewed solely from the perspective of its institutional relationship with the government.

“Independent does not mean we live in different houses. The house is the same. There are indeed corridors. But there are doors through which we can coordinate with each other. That is operational independence,” he said.

Fithra explained that coordination between the government and BI remains necessary because fiscal and monetary policies have different objectives.

The government, he said, focuses on economic growth and welfare, among other things, while the central bank focuses on monetary stability.