Finance Minister Says Some Economists "Rather Strange" for Claiming Indonesia in Recession

Jakarta — Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa told President Prabowo Subianto that some economists are making strange claims that Indonesia’s economy is in recession, when in fact the economy is accelerating after facing pressure last year. He highlighted several macroeconomic indicators demonstrating this, including the manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), Consumer Confidence Index (IKK), and the Mandiri Spending Index (MSI).

“I deliberately bring this up because many people outside are saying we’re already in recession, those rather strange economists are saying we’re already in recession and it’s all collapsing,” Purbaya said during a Full Cabinet Session at the State Palace in Jakarta on Friday, 13 March 2026.

Purbaya noted that the PMI Managers Index for February 2026 has reached its highest level in the past two years at 53.8, while the Consumer Confidence Index rose to 125.2, and the MSI trend moved upward to 360.7, indicating that the economy is accelerating.

Car sales growth reached 12.2% in February. “This is not trivial, sir. Last year it was negative, now it’s starting to turn positive and it’s accelerating. So we’re far from what those outside economists call a chaotic economy — there’s a lot of that on TikTok, sir,” he stressed.

In this context, Purbaya also emphasised that the data demonstrates that “your policies truly have the capacity to revive the economy,” and noted that “public purchasing power is now genuinely improving”.