Purbaya Denies Putting Himself Forward for BI Governor

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has dismissed rumours that he has put himself forward as a candidate for Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) to replace Perry Warjiyo. According to him, his name is frequently mentioned in the race for BI Governor, but this has never been true. He expressed gratitude for his current position. “No. Every time there is a selection, I am always mentioned everywhere, but it never happens. So I am already grateful to be here,” he told reporters after a Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) press conference on Monday (3/8/2026). On the same occasion, Purbaya was also asked about the issue of BI being placed structurally under a ministry. He considered it too early to discuss and argued it would not be good to change the current system. “Who said that? We will see how things develop; it is too early. In the current situation, it is not good to change the existing system. What is important is improving all of our performance,” Purbaya stressed. He noted that the KSSK is now more solid and he hopes its future policies will be even more synergistic. Regarding the regulation in the Financial Sector Development and Strengthening Law (UU P2SK) requiring BI to obtain DPR approval, Purbaya explained that the parliament should also be able to issue warnings to the central bank, as the DPR has previously considered the bank untouchable. “I once asked the DPR why this situation exists. They said, if the President can be given a stern warning by the DPR, why can’t the central bank? That’s it,” Purbaya said. The revised UU P2SK, passed in June 2026, requires Bank Indonesia’s annual budget and certain budget changes to be approved by the DPR. This change strengthens the parliament’s oversight and performance evaluation functions over the financial institution. The DPR has also gained additional authority to conduct periodic performance evaluations of Bank Indonesia.