Prabowo Now Praises Tax and Customs Directorates; Dissolution Plans Cancelled

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has recounted the praise directed by President Prabowo Subianto towards officials and staff at the Directorate General of Taxation (DJP) and the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC).

According to Purbaya, the president’s commendation represents a significant tribute, as the previous head of state consistently sought to disband these agencies responsible for collecting state revenue, intending to replace them with foreign entities such as Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS).

“There has been progress for Customs. I only recently discovered this—a few weeks ago I had a meeting at the palace with the President, and typically he would always say to disband Customs and replace it with SGS, always like that,” Purbaya said during the swearing-in of newly rotated officials at the Ministry of Finance in Jakarta on Tuesday, 10 March 2026.

“Yesterday was different; I initially thought we would have to replace Customs with SGS, but it turns out there has been improvement,” he added.

Purbaya stated that in recent meetings with his ministerial team, Prabowo has frequently expressed confidence that the government can enhance the Directorate General of Customs and Excise to better support state revenue requirements, alongside the Directorate General of Taxation.

“He said this: I see there has been improvement there and I am confident we can improve Customs so that it is not handed over to SGS,” Purbaya remarked.

He also disclosed that he now feels more confident facing the head of state and other ministers when discussions turn to these two agencies, as he had previously felt frustrated.

“Usually when I go to a palace meeting and they start talking about Customs and Taxation, I feel weak. But this is an extraordinary tribute—we haven’t achieved our goals yet but progress is already being noticed, and this is because of the hard work of Director General Djaka (Director General of Customs) and his colleagues,” Purbaya said.

Purbaya emphasised that similar praise was also directed towards tax officials now under the command of Director General of Taxation Bimo Wijayanto. He stated that the head of state expressed considerable confidence in continuing to boost revenues following a 30% increase in tax collections during January–February 2026.

“I thought taxation could not be improved, but after being pushed hard in January and February it increased by 30%. This was the president’s statement in front of Indonesia’s leaders. So this is cooperation, everyone working together, but what they are targeting is taxation and customs because they generate revenue,” he emphasised.