Bullion Bank Customers Reach 5.7 Million, Airlangga Says War Is Making Gold a Safe Haven

Jakarta, VIVA – Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, said the increasing global uncertainty due to geopolitical factors has significantly boosted Indonesians’ enthusiasm for the gold commodity. In his remarks at the AKSI KLIK (Strengthen Financial Literacy and Inclusion for Welfare) event, Airlangga noted a massive rise in the number of bullion bank customers at PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk (BSI) over the past year. When the bullion bank was launched by President Prabowo in February 2025, the number stood at 3.2 million customers. He now confirmed that the figure is no less than 5.7 million customers. “There is a very large increase,” Airlangga said on Friday, 6 March 2026. In addition to BSI, he stated that gold guarantees for financing at PT Pegadaian have reached 38.5 tonnes, worth Rp 102 trillion. Meanwhile, the amount of gold pledged at Pegadaian has risen from 94 tonnes to 144.7 tonnes. “And at BSI the amount of gold pledged has also risen to 22 tonnes,” he said. He explained that heightened geopolitical tensions have made gold an investment instrument viewed as a ‘safe haven’. Consequently, people are flocking to store wealth in this commodity. This has boosted gold prices; at the launch of the bullion bank the price was around US$3,000 per troy ounce. Now it has surged to US$5,000 per troy ounce. “So this is inflation driven by gold purchases, where the price at the time of the bullion bank launch was US$3,000, and now it is US$5,000,” Airlangga said. “And due to the war, indeed the safe haven for uncertain savings is gold,” he added.