Prabowo Calls SBY-Era Economic Officials, What Was Discussed?
President Prabowo Subianto summoned several state officials in the economic sphere from the era of the fifth President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Friday, 22 May 2026.
Among them were former Bank Indonesia Governor for 2003-2008, Burhanuddin Abdullah; former Minister of State for National Development Planning/Head of the National Development Planning Agency for 2005-2009, Paskah Suzetta; and Deputy Minister for National Development Planning of Indonesia for 2010-2014, Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the economic figures recounted the economic crisis of the past.
“In the meeting, they shared several lessons from facing the crisis in 2008. Coincidentally, their tenures were mostly between 2004 and 2014,” Airlangga said after the meeting at the Presidential Palace on Friday afternoon.
Airlangga added that the former officials also provided notes relating to experiences in dealing with global economic pressures, such as a surge in oil prices, inflationary pressures, and exchange rate changes.
“They said that in the past, inflation ran at around 17 percent and there were changes in the exchange rate due to the oil crisis. In 2005 there was an oil crisis when oil prices rose to as high as US$140 per barrel,” he said.
For Airlangga, Indonesia’s macroeconomic conditions today are relatively stronger than in several previous crises. “The fundamentals are stronger. And the rupiah’s depreciation is about 5 percent, thus much lower than in many prior cases,” Airlangga said.
From the meeting, Airlangga said, the government can study precautionary steps needed to anticipate various possibilities ahead. President Prabowo also asked his deputies in the Red and White Cabinet, including Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, to monitor regulations that could strengthen financial sector stability and uphold prudential banking principles.
Separately, former BI Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah explained that the meeting with President Prabowo today discussed past experiences that can serve as lessons in facing the current economic conditions. According to Burhanuddin, the gathering did not specifically address the rupiah’s slide to its lowest level since 1998, but rather the overall impact of global conditions on the domestic economy.
He said that addressing economic problems requires inter-agency coordination within government. “In government. So how fiscal policy and monetary policy should work together, what should the teamwork be like to solve these problems,” Burhanuddin said.