Prabowo Speaks Candidly on the Root Cause of the Rupiah's Weakness

President Prabowo Subianto has addressed the recent weakening of the rupiah exchange rate, identifying the outflow of national wealth over decades as a primary cause. He made the remarks during the closing ceremony of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) National Conference and Grand Conference in Bangkalan, East Java, on Tuesday, 23 June 2026. Prabowo initially presented data processed by the National Economic Council (DEN) from the United Nations, showing that Indonesia recorded trade profits in 17 out of 22 years. ‘If we look over 22 years, the Indonesian nation has actually been profitable. Only five years were we not profitable, slightly less. But in 17 of the 22 years, we made a profit,’ he stated. ‘Our profit was US$436 billion over 22 years. Multiply that by 17,000, and you get trillions of rupiah. Furthermore, if we look over 42 years, our wealth is actually US$683 billion.’ Despite these figures, Prabowo noted that the profits were not fully enjoyed by Indonesia because a significant portion flowed abroad. ‘If people now say our rupiah is weak for this or that reason, it is because the wealth is leaving. If our blood flows out every day, eventually our body collapses and dies. That is the state of our republic. Every year our wealth is taken out, yet we still stand,’ he said. Over the last 22 years, Prabowo revealed that the value of wealth leaving Indonesia amounted to US$343 billion. ‘So the profit was US$436 billion, and US$343 billion left. What remains is very little compared to what went out,’ he explained. ‘What conclusion must we draw? It turns out, according to the UN, what occurred is called under-invoicing or false reporting. Businesspeople lie; they sell 1,000 tonnes but report only 500 tonnes. This means the state loses. After calculating, the UN figures show we have lost US$908 billion over 34 years, or Rp 15,000 trillion,’ he concluded.