Finance Minister Rebukes Economists Claiming Indonesia in Recession, Says Economy Sufficiently Stable

Jakarta – Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has once again rejected statements from several economists claiming that Indonesia has fallen into recession as a result of geopolitical crisis in the Middle East.

According to Purbaya, government data demonstrates that Indonesia’s economic indicators remain strong and are even in an expansionary phase. He visited the field directly to assess consumer purchasing power, including a visit to Tanah Abang Market yesterday, Monday (9 March 2026).

“Recently, some have said our economy is weakening. They claim purchasing power has declined. I checked the data, I also looked directly on the ground, like my visit to Tanah Abang Market yesterday, it appears to still be fairly healthy. So our economy is not in recession, much less in crisis,” Purbaya stated firmly during his speech at an official inauguration ceremony at the Finance Ministry on Tuesday (10 March 2026).

He assessed that Indonesia’s economy continues to demonstrate solid growth. Evidence of this lies in the fact that Indonesia’s economy grew 5.39% in Q4 2025. Purbaya claimed that the Finance Ministry’s role has been quite substantial in maintaining Indonesia’s economic growth.

“So you may be proud of the Finance Ministry – we have managed the economy until now quite well, and our economy is in an expansion phase with a faster rate of growth,” he told Finance Ministry civil servants.

Purbaya acknowledged that previously, in 2025, Indonesia’s economic conditions had weakened. At that time, had the government not implemented appropriate fiscal policy measures, Indonesia might already be in crisis.

“If it had not been remedied with certain fiscal policies, we would have fallen and might now truly be in crisis, as amateur, amateurish economists outside say. They say we’re in recession, we’re in crisis,” he explained.

For this reason, he urged the public not to worry, as the Finance Ministry is quite skilled at maintaining economic stability.

“They say we’re in recession, we’re in crisis. That would be if using information from before. But if using current information, we’re in expansion. The Finance Ministry is accomplished, I can admit it – our economy is sufficiently stable,” Purbaya stated emphatically.