Prabowo Has Closed 240 State-Owned Enterprises, Targets 800 by Year-End

President Prabowo Subianto has stated that the government has closed 240 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) deemed problematic, and is targeting a total of 800 closures by the end of 2026.

“As of today, we have already closed 240 problematic SOEs. By the end of July, we will have closed 250,” Prabowo said during the inauguration of five dams centred on the Meninting Dam in West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Friday.

“By 31 December 2026, we will have closed 800 inefficient SOEs, ones that have never turned a profit and keep making losses — we are shutting them down,” he added.

He revealed that the clean-up has already produced budget savings approaching Rp70 trillion, mainly from directors’ salaries and operational overheads.

Prabowo admitted he was surprised to learn how many SOEs Indonesia has after being sworn in as President. He had previously estimated the number at only around 300, or 400 at most.

“I never knew we had so many SOEs. My estimate had always been 300, at most 400. Only after I was inaugurated as President was I told we have 1,077,” he said.

The Head of State assessed that the figure could grow even larger once subsidiaries, sub-subsidiaries and further descendants of these companies are taken into account.

“There may well be subsidiaries, sub-subsidiaries and even great-grandchild companies — that is how they hide things, hiding state money, hiding the people’s money. We are putting this in order,” he said firmly.

The President also revealed that several SOEs which had suffered losses for decades are now beginning to record profits, particularly now that Indonesia has the sovereign wealth fund Danantara.

“Now it has been proven — we are fixing things step by step. Garuda (Indonesia) was about to be sold, and I forbade it. Now it is starting to recover. Next month it will begin making a profit after decades of losses,” Prabowo said.