Prabowo Receives Former Bank Indonesia Chief at the Palace, Discusses Crisis Experience

The meeting took place on Friday, 22 May 2026. Attendees included former Bank Indonesia governor Burhanuddin Abdullah (2003-2008), former Bappenas head Paskah Suzetta, and former Deputy Minister of PPN Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the figures were invited to discuss handling of the 2008 financial crisis. The attendees reportedly provided data on inflation and exchange-rate changes that occurred during the crisis. ‘During that period, inflation ran at around 17 percent and exchange rates shifted due to the oil crisis in 2005; oil prices rose to as high as USD 140, and there was price adjustment that pushed inflation to 27 percent,’ he said. Airlangga then compared that crisis to the current situation. He noted Indonesia’s macroeconomic conditions are much stronger today, with a depreciation of the rupiah at about 5 percent—much lower than in previous cases. From this, he said, they learned how to anticipate and what is needed to deal with future situations. Airlangga added that President Prabowo has instructed the cabinet to strengthen the financial and banking sectors. He noted that bank capitalisation still needs to be reinforced. ‘And of course the President asked us, together with the Minister of Finance, to monitor how regulations can strengthen the financial situation and also safeguard the prudential aspects of our banking sector. We have a large number of banks, and we may need to study how to bolster their capitalization,’ he said. (fca/amw)