Prabowo: Indonesia's Economic System is Flawed

President Prabowo Subianto has assessed that the prevailing economic system has not fully delivered equitable prosperity. Although economic growth has been consistently positive in recent years, he highlighted that the benefits of that growth have been largely enjoyed by certain groups. “That those who have become richer are only a handful of people. So, I return to you, brothers and sisters, that ultimately we must see that this means our system is flawed. This system is flawed,” Prabowo said during a speech at the Closing of the 2026 National Deliberation of Alim Ulama and the NU Grand Conference, as watched on the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel on Tuesday (23/6).

According to Prabowo, economic growth indicators should not be viewed solely through figures. He cautioned that high growth is meaningless if the number of poor people continues to increase and the middle class shrinks. In his view, this condition indicates a fundamental problem in the system that has been operating so far. The ideal of Indonesian independence is not merely to create economic growth, but to deliver justice and prosperity for all the people. “If the poor increase, and the middle class also decreases, it means that only a handful of people are enjoying this growth,” he said.

Prabowo asserted that the government he leads is working to rectify this problem by closing various leakages that have eroded the nation’s wealth. He revealed that the government has reclaimed more than 5 million hectares of oil palm plantations that violated the law, including those operating in protected forest areas and using falsified reports. Additionally, the government has taken action against hundreds of unlicensed mining activities that operated without hindrance for years. According to him, there were mines that had been operating for eight years without official permits, while their output was worth hundreds of billions of rupiah each month.

Prabowo acknowledged that eradicating these practices is not an easy task. Although officers from various institutions have been deployed, the smuggling of natural resources continues. “We have deployed the navy. We have deployed customs. We have deployed thousands of soldiers. It still happens. So, this effort is indeed not a light one,” he said. Therefore, he stressed that the main key to improving the system lies in a clean government free from corruption. According to Prabowo, no country can survive if its natural wealth is continuously plundered while the majority of its people still live in hardship. “The government must truly not be corrupt. There must be no corruption in the government of the Republic of Indonesia,” he explained.

Prabowo assessed that fixing the system is a step that cannot be postponed if Indonesia wishes to realise the ideals of the nation’s founders. He believes that just prosperity will not be achieved if the current patterns are maintained. “And this is not in accordance with the ideals of our proclamation. The ideals of our independence. It is not in accordance with the wishes of our nation’s founders. We are independent, we want our people to live in justice and prosperity,” Prabowo said.