Prabowo: State-Owned Enterprises Are Not a Source of Funds for the Ruling Elite

President Prabowo Subianto has stressed that state-owned enterprises (BUMN) belong to all Indonesian people and must not be turned into a cash cow by anyone, including those holding power.

“BUMN are the property of all Indonesian people. They do not belong to directors. They do not belong to commissioners. Nor are they a source of funds for those in power,” Prabowo said during the Annual Session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the Joint Session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) in commemoration of Indonesia’s 81st Independence Day at the Nusantara Building, Parliamentary Complex, Senayan, Central Jakarta, Friday (14/8/2026).

Prabowo revealed that when the government established the Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency (Danantara), it discovered that the number of BUMN entities was far larger than expected, reaching 1,074 companies when subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries were included.

According to him, too many of these entities were unproductive, while also piling up layers of directors and commissioners that burdened operational costs.

In the forum, Prabowo reported to the Assembly that the government had closed 290 BUMN. The reduction will continue until the end of this year.

“By the end of this year, we are targeting to have at most 300 BUMN. More than 750 BUMN will be closed. Only those that are productive, only those that create added value will be retained,” he said.

Prabowo described the streamlining measure as one of the most massive corporate actions. “This may be the largest corporate restructuring in the world,” he said.

From the reduction in the number of BUMN, the government claims to have saved around Rp 50 trillion in overhead costs.

Prabowo explained that the savings mean that every year Rp 50 trillion is no longer spent on financing the salaries of directors and commissioners as well as expenditure items deemed unproductive.

“That money is now used for investment, for industrialisation, for improving services, and for things that directly benefit the people,” he said.

Prabowo added that the BUMN restructuring policy is part of implementing the mandate of the 1945 Constitution to safeguard the nation’s wealth so that it can be enjoyed by all Indonesian people.