President Prabowo Says Thousands of Trillions in State Wealth Lost Annually Due to Forgery and Smuggling

President Prabowo Subianto has stated that state wealth is lost every year due to corrupt practices in the Indonesian economy, with the annual loss estimated to reach thousands of trillions of rupiah. The President made the remarks during a Plenary Cabinet Session at Merdeka Palace on Monday, 20 July 2026. “A distortion has occurred in our economy; our wealth has been flowing out significantly, thousands of trillions, hundreds of billions of dollars each year,” he said. The Head of State explained that the state wealth is lost due to the forgery of trade reports carried out by unscrupulous individuals. Furthermore, the smuggling of goods was also cited as a cause of the loss of state wealth. However, Prabowo noted that the data on the lost state wealth comes from international institutions, including the United Nations. “Practices of trade report forgery. Smuggling practices, things that are actually illogical and truly unfair to our nation. And this is not from us, this is data from international institutions, this is data from the UN, among others,” Prabowo said. “I and the entire nation have felt it, all economic actors understand this, both at home and abroad, everyone knows. The world’s largest palm oil producer went weeks without cooking oil. Something that defies logic,” he continued. He therefore acknowledged that Indonesia faces a major challenge. Prabowo also said the current global turmoil is uncertain. “Because we are facing a very big problem, we are facing a world full of upheaval and also we are facing bitter realities that we must acknowledge. This is our common challenge, we do not intend to find fault,” he said. He stressed that every element of leadership must give their best to the people. Because, he said, all elements of leadership, including himself, have been given a mandate and trust by the people. “We as the nation’s children, we as elements of leadership, all of us here as elements of leadership, we are political leaders, technocratic leaders, cultural leaders, community leaders and we are given a mandate by the people to face and solve problems,” he stated.