President: Teachers' Salaries Low Due to Budget Leakage
President Prabowo Subianto has highlighted budget leakages resulting from fraudulent export reports by business actors, which have caused state losses amounting to thousands of trillions of rupiah. He stated that this has, among other things, impacted teachers’ salaries.
“We have lost 908 billion dollars over 34 years, or Rp 15 thousand trillion. Rp 15 thousand trillion, brothers and sisters, this is all the data I want to present in this forum,” said President Prabowo during his closing speech at the 2026 National Conference of Alim Ulama and the Grand Conference of Nahdlatul Ulama in Bangkalan, East Java, as quoted from an official release by the Presidential Secretariat in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The President stated that he wanted to provide understanding to the kiai present at the NU National Conference and Grand Conference that this budget leakage is what causes the state to lack funds, impacting the salaries of teachers and civil servants. “I want you, the NU brothers and sisters, as leaders, as ulama, as teachers, as guides of the people, to understand why teachers’ salaries cannot be good, why civil servants’ salaries cannot be good, why the budget is always insufficient, right? Because the money is not there,” said the President.
Prabowo revealed that the massive loss figures were obtained based on the processing of United Nations Comtrade data by the National Economic Council regarding the phenomenon of under-invoicing or report falsification, particularly in export activities. According to the President, the manipulation of commodity volumes reported by unscrupulous business actors is the main reason why the state budget for public welfare always experiences shortfalls.
Prabowo gave an example of this fraudulent mode, which occurs when a business actor exports a thousand tonnes of a commodity abroad but only reports half of it to government authorities. The Head of State emphasised that the systemic leakage, estimated to reach Rp 2,500 trillion annually, is now being massively rectified by the ranks of the Red and White Cabinet.
In addition to document manipulation, the President also mentioned that the smuggling of valuable commodities such as gold and silver in Indonesian waters is still ongoing. “Only a foolish nation would continue a system where the nation’s wealth does not remain in that nation,” said the President.
President Prabowo Subianto officially closed the 2026 National Conference of Alim Ulama and the Grand Conference of Nahdlatul Ulama at the Syaichona Mohammad Cholil Islamic Institute in Bangkalan Regency, East Java. A number of state officials attended the event.