Chatib Reports to Prabowo on Price Hike Risks

President Prabowo Subianto has received a report on the latest economic conditions from the National Economic Council (DEN). The meeting took place at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon, 9 June 2026. Present were DEN Chairman Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and council members Muhammad Chatib Basri, Septian Hario Seto, and Mochammad Firman Hidayat. During the gathering, Chatib Basri delivered a special report regarding macroeconomic developments. “We also conveyed that one of the important issues that must be watched is the possibility of the risk of rising prices that could occur as a result of the weakening rupiah,” Chatib said after the meeting with President Prabowo at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Tuesday. On Monday, 8 June 2026, the rupiah depreciated to breach the level of Rp 18,201 per US dollar for the first time in history. According to Chatib Basri, the weakening of the rupiah’s exchange rate against the US dollar has a direct impact on the lower middle class. The former finance minister from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s era then suggested that confidence in the government should be restored, including efforts to achieve budget efficiency on projects with large costs, such as the free nutritious meal programme. “What needs to be done, including to grow confidence and trust in the government. One of them is measures taken in budget efficiency, including one related to the MBG,” said Chatib. On the same occasion, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, who leads the DEN, said the meeting discussed improving the governance of the MBG programme and optimising the digitalisation of public services, or government technology (govtech), through artificial intelligence.