Facing Iran War, Economist Says Indonesia is Better Off Than Neighbouring Countries

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Director of CORE Indonesia, Mohammad Faisal, revealed that Indonesia’s situation remains better than other countries in facing the war between the United States and Iran. From the commodity price perspective, countries around the world must prepare for rising oil prices. Especially with the ceasefire failure, pressure will continue to be felt in the future. According to him, Indonesia is still better off compared to other countries because its dependence is not as high as that of the Philippines and Malaysia. “Dependence on Gulf Countries, we are still better off. Philippines 90%, Malaysia 70%, Indonesia 20% this is because we still import from African countries. In the context of energy resilience, we are still far better than neighbouring countries,” Faisal stated at the Central Banking Forum themed Indonesian Economic Resilience in Facing Global Exchange Rate Volatility, in Jakarta on Monday (13/4/2026). In addition, Indonesia is also aggressively accelerating energy transition, so it does not only rely on oil. He assessed that the energy transition must be further encouraged, including the utilisation of coal. Although safe from the energy side, Faisal highlighted the potential for significant price increases, one of which is food. For example, increases in fertiliser prices could impact food commodities such as sugar and soybeans. “Before the war, it had already increased, then after January it increased even higher. Therefore, it can be dampened by maintaining exchange rate stability which is very important,” he explained. From the rupiah exchange rate side, although there is volatility, Indonesia can still mitigate the impact because foreign exchange reserves are still sufficient. “What is quite appreciated is that the exchange rate has been maintained so far without raising the BI Rate interest rate. This is a positive thing for future exchange rate stability,” said Faisal.