Indonesia Happy S&P Maintains Credit Rating, Purbaya: An Honest Institution

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa expressed his happiness after international rating agency S&P maintained Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating. S&P kept the long-term rating at BBB and the short-term rating at A-2, with a stable outlook.

According to him, the decision by S&P shows that the rating agency is honest and correct. “So S&P’s announcement gives a clear indication that honest, correct, and prudent international institutions see our policies as good,” Purbaya stressed during a Plenary Session of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta on Tuesday (14/7/2026).

Purbaya considered that S&P’s assessment of the government’s fiscal management automatically dispels negative assumptions circulating in the community that the government is reckless in managing the state budget (APBN). “We take the positives from this S&P rating. From the beginning of the year until now, we have been battered by negative news, that our rating has dropped, that our budget is being managed brutally, and so on, creating the impression that our rating was downgraded, not just the outlook,” Purbaya explained.

He added that the government will now be more confident in communicating its success in managing fiscal policy, particularly in maintaining the budget deficit below the safe limit of 3% of GDP and the debt ratio below 60% of GDP as mandated by the State Finance Law. “With this news, we can start to be bolder in telling positive sentiments to the public, to the capital market, and others, including the rupiah, that from now on we are only moving forward, not backward. So it is not ‘Indonesia Cemas’ (Anxious Indonesia), but towards ‘Indonesia Emas’ (Golden Indonesia),” he stated.

“Therefore, going forward, we still ask for support so that the government can run its budget prudently and without misappropriation,” Purbaya stressed.

S&P Global Ratings affirmed Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating on 13 July 2026. In its report, S&P assessed that the weakening of several economic indicators, both fiscal and external, is temporary and is expected to improve in the coming years. S&P also stated that the stable outlook reflects their expectation that government revenues will continue to recover this year and export earnings will increase along with rising commodity prices. The agency noted that government policies to increase state revenue and export earnings from the natural resources sector are expected to strengthen state income in the medium term, especially if policy changes become more predictable and well-executed. S&P added that the stable outlook also reflects their belief that the government continues to view the 3% of GDP fiscal deficit limit as an important policy anchor.