Finance Minister Purbaya Criticises "TikTok Economists": Check the Data, Learn Properly

Jakarta — Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has rebuked various parties spreading claims that Indonesia’s economy is heading towards recession, noting that such narratives are proliferating on social media, including from what he refers to as “TikTok economists”.

According to the Minister, various economic indicators in fact demonstrate that the nation’s economic conditions remain sufficiently robust. He therefore called on those spreading negative narratives to examine complete data before drawing conclusions about Indonesia’s economic condition.

“Pay attention to economic fundamentals; when the fundamentals are good, things will certainly be good too, but there is currently much noise, with many claiming the economy is already in recession,” Purbaya stated when met at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs office on Monday, 16 March 2026.

He emphasised that multiple data points show Indonesia’s economy is still experiencing solid growth. According to figures from the Central Statistics Agency, Indonesia’s economic growth reached 5.39% in the fourth quarter of last year.

Purbaya further stressed that positive economic indicators do not come from a single institution. Various different organisations demonstrate the same trend: economic activity that remains expansive.

“There is consumer confidence from Bank Indonesia and the Deposit Insurance Corporation surveys — these are separate institutions and both show increases. There is also the retail sales index from Bank Indonesia, which is also up, and vehicle sales from the association, which are also up — they grew robustly by 7% recently, whereas previously they were negative,” he explained.

Accordingly, Purbaya contended that the narrative suggesting Indonesia’s economy is moving towards recession lacks data support.

“So if those economists are saying it is already destroyed, that is wrong. There are many on TikTok — try looking at the proper data and learn properly. If something is indeed bad, I will fix it, but when it is already good, which part should I fix? They are merely creating negative sensation,” he stated.

Purbaya even suspected that some of the negative sentiment arises from specific motives, such as failing to purchase shares at cheaper prices previously.

“Perhaps they missed buying shares earlier and now want to buy them at lower prices,” he suggested.