Customs and Excise Directorate General Will Not Be Dissolved by Prabowo

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has revealed that President Prabowo Subianto is satisfied with the progress of improvements at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC). He confirmed that the head of state has even signalled that the DJBC will not be dissolved, after the agency was previously threatened with dissolution if it failed to reform and faced replacement by Switzerland’s Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) since late last year. “So the likelihood is that Customs and Excise will remain,” Purbaya said at his office in Jakarta on Tuesday (21/7/2026). According to Purbaya, President Prabowo has now even commended the DJBC for the improvements made, such as strengthening surveillance policies against illegal goods. “If we look at the appreciation or the president’s speech to Customs and Excise, Mr Prabowo has seen significant improvements from Customs and Excise,” Purbaya stated. “Previously he said dissolve it, now he has said in one of the cabinet meetings that Customs and Excise can be improved and must be improved. That is a clear signal that there is positive development in Customs and Excise that is recognised by our leader,” he stressed. Purbaya added that Customs and Excise has even developed an artificial intelligence (AI) based system to strengthen surveillance of goods entering and leaving Indonesia. The system is planned to be operational within the next two weeks. “There is AI software in the field used at the Customs and Excise centre, which is linked to many locations in Indonesia. In two weeks, Mr Djaka said we can demonstrate to media colleagues that we are now more advanced than before,” Purbaya explained. Purbaya believes this improvement is inseparable from the overhaul of Customs and Excise personnel since the beginning of this year. He said the current leadership ranks at Customs and Excise are now relatively better. “And they know that if they are not good, they will be dissolved. Revenue growth is now over 6%, and now we see far fewer illegal goods in the market, smuggled goods have decreased significantly, and Customs and Excise is actively making arrests in the circulation of illegal cigarettes,” Purbaya said. He added that Customs and Excise no longer simply releases perpetrators of illegal goods distribution after confiscating their items, but now also seizes their transport vehicles, making the cost of distributing illegal goods more expensive in the country. “Now every truck or vehicle involved in illegal practices is detained until the matter is clear, so the cost of illegal practices becomes expensive. So now all Customs and Excise offices are full of trucks or cars that transported illegal goods,” he revealed. As information, customs and excise revenue has continued to grow. Up to the first half of 2026, state revenue from customs and excise reached Rp152 trillion, an increase of 3.4% from the same period last year of Rp147 trillion. This realisation up to the end of June 2026 is equivalent to 45.2% of the state budget target for the full year of Rp335 trillion. Purbaya estimates that by the end of the year, customs and excise revenue will reach Rp320.6 trillion, or 95.4% of the target. Although it will not meet the target, it is still higher than last year’s figure of Rp300.3 trillion.