Purbaya Baffled: Indonesia Sometimes Praised, the Next Day Questioned!

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has revealed that the government is facing the issue of sentiment that easily flips, particularly domestically. He stated that there are still many parties spreading negative rumours about the fiscal and economic conditions. “Sentiment in Indonesia easily reverses; sometimes we’re praised, the next day doubted, that’s how it is,” said Purbaya at the Juanda I Building of the Ministry of Finance, Jakarta, on Tuesday (21/4/2026). Purbaya considers the issues being circulated regarding Indonesia’s fiscal and economy from within the country to be baseless. Meanwhile, abroad, the government’s image in managing fiscal matters remains very positive. “The fiscal is already good, then bad news comes out again; it’s already good, then bad again. It’s not that the news is bad or the fiscal condition is bad, but domestically many are blowing hot air that our fiscal performance is poor, and it looks like the economy will really collapse,” said Purbaya. Regarding the positive sentiment abroad, Purbaya experienced it during his attendance at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings last week. In those meetings, he met with various global investors. “Abroad, their view of us is clear; when I met with rating agency investors, our state budget condition was not an issue,” explained Purbaya. Therefore, he believes that domestic sentiment should not follow issues blown by parties without a basis for assessment. Because he assures that Indonesia’s fiscal and economic conditions are still strong now. “So now we’re influenced by the global turmoil, we follow along. The causes are conflicts, tight global policies, and noise that’s often exaggerated. But as I said earlier, our condition is strong, we don’t need to worry,” said Purbaya.