Moment When Purbaya Showcases Indonesia's Resilience Before IMF, G20, and Major Investors
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, Purbaya Yudha Sadewa, has just concluded a series of meetings at the Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group from 13-17 April in Washington, United States.
This annual gathering, attended by Finance and Development Ministers, Central Bank Governors, parliament members, private sector executives, Civil Society Organisation (CSO) representatives, business actors, academics, and international organisations, discussed key global development challenges, including economic growth prospects, financial stability, and poverty alleviation.
During these activities, the Finance Minister held meetings with several global investors to convey the latest developments in Indonesia’s economy and encourage increased investment.
The Finance Minister stated that Indonesia’s economy remains resilient amid current global geopolitical pressures. He also explained several strategic government efforts to enhance investment, such as ensuring national economic growth meets targets and aligning fiscal policies with their implementation to create sustainable economic improvements.
The Finance Minister served as a key speaker at a seminar titled “Supporting Economic Recovery in Middle-Income Countries: Alignment of Higher Productivity and Quality Jobs Creation, Amid High Indebtedness”.
In this seminar, Purbaya conveyed that Indonesia is shifting its development focus, not only maintaining stability but also moving towards more productive, value-added growth and creating quality jobs. This transformation is driven by three main pillars: investment, industrialisation, and productivity.
“We are promoting downstream industries, strengthening the manufacturing sector, and enhancing human resources and efficiency. Thus, in the future, Indonesia’s growth will not only be stable but also more productive and sustainable, as well as more diversified and resilient,” said Purbaya.
Additionally, the Finance Minister affirmed that Indonesia’s economic performance is relatively strong compared to other G20 countries and emerging economies, supported by solid growth, low inflation, and managed deficits and debt ratios.
This resilience is inseparable from the role of the State Budget (APBN) as a shock absorber in protecting people’s purchasing power, while maintaining fiscal discipline below the 3% GDP deficit limit. Indonesia will optimise the synergy of fiscal and monetary policies, as well as leverage the role of Danantara in mobilising investments outside the APBN.
During this visit, the Finance Minister also attended the “G20 1st Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting” under the United States presidency. In the “Growth Barriers and Reforms” session, the Finance Minister stated that Indonesia has undertaken regulatory reforms and enforced clean governance.
Amid the energy crisis triggered by the current war, an important lesson is that Indonesia’s current resilience is rooted not in emergency measures but in structural reforms implemented well before the crisis.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East serves as a reminder that efficiency in processes and permitting is key to energy resilience.
In this regard, Indonesia is accelerating reforms by simplifying permitting, forming a de-bottlenecking task force, and reducing barriers to energy imports. The Finance Minister added that amid global price adjustments, the 10-year government bond yield has relatively increased but remains within government assumptions.
This credibility allows Indonesia to absorb higher energy prices without sacrificing support for vulnerable groups or breaching Indonesia’s fiscal deficit limits.
Still at the G20 meeting, in the “Global Imbalances” session, the Finance Minister also revealed that for developing countries like Indonesia, the main concerns regarding external imbalances lie in potential risks, including capital flow volatility, inflation pressures, and spillover effects from the global financial system.
The war in the Middle East has been a severe test for the resilience of emerging market economies. However, Purbaya views that although the war transmits shocks through energy prices, shipping costs, and currency volatility to Indonesia, the country’s macroeconomic stability remains intact compared to many other nations facing the same pressures.
“Although Indonesia recorded an outflow of foreign exchange amounting to US$1.8 billion and rupiah depreciation, Indonesia’s fiscal deficit remains below 3% and foreign exchange reserves are still adequate, proving that macroeconomic-financial credibility functions at the most critical times, including in strengthening energy resilience,” he explained.
In the “IMFC Early Warning Exercise” session, Purbaya revealed that Indonesia’s involvement in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved from early development stages to an integral part of the entire economy.
In 2025, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector recorded the highest growth rate in history at 8.35%, supported by over 12,000 km of fibre optic networks and national satellite capacity of 150 Gbps.
“Indonesia is actively continuing to strengthen the national AI ecosystem to ensure productivity improvements can be optimised domestically, while remaining open to global collaboration, and positioning Indonesia as a user and developer of AI-based solutions,” said Purbaya.
Additionally, he assured that Indonesia will remain vigilant against emerging systemic risks, including potential asset bubbles from AI investments, labour market disruptions due to automation, increased market concentration by global platforms, financial stability risks from AI-based decision-making, and fiscal erosion from activities.