President Prabowo: National Wealth Outflow Causes Rupiah to Weaken

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The President of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, has stated that the phenomenon of capital flowing abroad is the main factor weakening the rupiah’s exchange rate against foreign currencies over recent decades.

“If people say our rupiah is weak because of this or that, it is because our wealth is leaving. If our blood leaves our body every day, eventually our body will collapse,” President Prabowo said during his address at the Closing of the National Deliberation of Ulama and the 2026 Nahdlatul Ulama Grand Conference in Bangkalan, East Java, on Tuesday.

The President explained that the term used to describe this constant leakage of national wealth flowing out of Indonesia is the “net outflow of national wealth.”

Based on international data, Prabowo noted that Indonesia has actually recorded trade surpluses for 17 years out of the last 22 years.

However, the President lamented that of this trade surplus, amounting to 436 billion US dollars, a large portion—specifically 343 billion US dollars—is being directly flowed back abroad by capital owners.

The Head of State stated that this imbalance results in very little real funds remaining and being deposited within the country.

Prabowo reaffirmed his commitment to reforming this flawed economic system to protect domestic interests, in accordance with the oath of office he took during his inauguration.

“What is happening in Indonesia is that the wealth of the Indonesian nation is flowing out, out of the country,” Prabowo emphasised, reiterating his economic premise.

Over the last two decades, the rupiah has continued to fluctuate and weaken against the US dollar. In the mid-2000s, the rupiah was around Rp9,000 per US dollar.

The rupiah’s exchange rate has been hit by global financial market volatility in 2013, the COVID-19 pandemic, and recent global geopolitical conflicts, which at one point pressured the rupiah beyond its historical record low of over Rp18,000 per US dollar.