Chatib Reports to Prabowo on Price Hike Risks

President Prabowo Subianto received a report on the current economic conditions from the National Economic Council (DEN) during a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon, 9 June 2026.

Present at the meeting were the Chairman of the DEN, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, and council members Muhammad Chatib Basri, Septian Hario Seto, and Mochammad Firman Hidayat.

During the session, Chatib Basri provided a special report regarding macroeconomic developments. “We also conveyed that one of the important issues that must be noted is the potential risk of price increases that could occur due to the weakening of the rupiah,” Chatib stated following the meeting with President Prabowo at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Tuesday.

On Monday, 8 June 2026, the rupiah depreciated to the level of Rp 18,201 per US dollar for the first time in history. According to Chatib Basri, the weakening of the rupiah against the US dollar has a direct impact on the lower-middle class.

The former Finance Minister under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also suggested measures to rebuild confidence in the government, including efforts to implement budget efficiency in large-scale projects, such as the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme.

“What must be done includes addressing the issues of confidence and trust in the government. One of the steps is budget efficiency, which includes measures related to the MBG programme,” said Chatib.

On the same occasion, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, who leads the DEN, stated that the meeting discussed the improvement of MBG governance and the optimisation of public service digitalisation, also known as government technology or govtech, through artificial intelligence.