Hasan Nasbi on Villagers Not Using the Dollar: Parental Wisdom to Children

Hasan Nasbi, the presidential special adviser on communications, has spoken out regarding President Prabowo Subianto’s statement that rural Indonesians do not use the United States dollar. Prabowo said this during the inauguration of the Marsinah Museum in Nganjuk, East Java, on Saturday (16 May), in response to the trend of the rupiah’s depreciation against the USD. Nasbi said the president’s statement was blunt, simple, and did not require multiple translations. Because at that moment Prabowo was addressing villagers who, he argued, understood the meaning of the remark.

‘Understand in two senses. First, that they, indirectly, do not use dollars at all. They shop in rupiah, services, labour, and exchanges of goods all transact in rupiah. And they do not spend too much time thinking about the dollar exchange rate at that moment,’ Nasbi said in a video posted to his YouTube channel, as quoted on Wednesday (20 May).

‘And secondly, village people actually understand that the president was speaking to them in that moment in the manner of parental wisdom spoken to his children,’ he added.

Nasbi emphasised that the government is not turning a blind eye to the pressure on the rupiah. On 5 May, Prabowo had already summoned the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), comprising the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, the Finance Minister, the Governor of Bank Indonesia, and an OJK commissioner.

‘In addition to discussing economic growth, they also discussed the pressures on the exchange rate. About various scenarios the government could take, to stabilise the exchange rate again,’ he said.

Nasbi said not every government effort to tackle every problem needs to be communicated to the public. He described this as wisdom.

‘These complexities, the intricacies of the problem, do not have to be transferred to the public. Especially not to rural communities. This is wisdom—the elder’s wisdom to his children; the government’s wisdom to its citizens. Is there any citizen who understands the real problem? Yes, there certainly is,’ Nasbi said.

‘But the complexities do not have to be transferred to other citizens. Because ultimately it is the government that must resolve this. The government must think hard; to adopt this as the life burden and worry for the government. So give the government time to implement strategies to stabilise the exchange rate. To find an equilibrium point, whether the old equilibrium point or a new equilibrium point for the rupiah against the US dollar,’ he added.