PDIP's Said Abdullah Calls on Government to Open Itself to Criticism Amid Economic Crisis

Chair of the House Budget Committee (Banggar), Said Abdullah, hopes the government can open itself to criticism amidst the weakening of the rupiah and the decline in the composite stock price index (IHSG). Said considers that opening up to criticism is now more important than blaming uncontrollable external factors. “We do not need to point fingers outward, questioning why the Fed has chosen a hawkish policy and why the Gulf continues to be turbulent, because that is beyond our control,” said Said in his statement on Wednesday (10/6). “What we must prepare in a more planned manner, with good execution, is how to overcome the dollar, expensive government bond (SBN) yields, and the slumping IHSG. The first thing we need to do is open ourselves to criticism and input,” he added. The PDIP politician revealed three important steps the government can take now to restore market confidence. He said these three steps are input from rating agencies and academics. First, the government must maintain policy consistency. According to Said, policy inconsistency risks creating distrust among business players. Therefore, he said, the government should not announce policies that are still premature. “The government should not announce premature policies and should build more productive multi-stakeholder dialogue on policy plans,” he said. Second, the government must manage sound fiscal policy. Said praised the government’s proposal to submit a 2027 State Budget Draft (RAPBN) deficit of 1.8 - 2.4 percent of GDP. According to him, this is good news and is expected to convince the market. “Especially if this year’s deficit realisation could be lower, at least 2.58 percent from the 2026 State Budget (APBN) target of 2.68 percent, and the 2025 realisation, which reached 2.81 percent. This shows a positive trend,” he said. On the other hand, Said said that the market is currently very much hoping for improved governance of the free nutritious meal programme (MBG) and the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives (KDMP). According to him, the government at least needs to improve implementation capacity, avoid conflicts of interest, and focus on target beneficiaries and priority areas. Third, he assessed that the Financial Services Authority (OJK) needs to immediately improve stock exchange governance. In addition, OJK must also promptly improve share ownership transparency, increase the free float portion to above 15 percent, and evaluate self-regulatory organisations (SROs) in the capital market.