Purbaya Furious, Calls Claim of State Funds Remaining Rp120 Trillion Utter Nonsense!

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has once again emphasised that the claim regarding the state coffers holding only Rp120 trillion is a grave error that continues to be recirculated. According to him, this information is entirely wrong as it only considers the placement of excess budget balance (SAL) from the state budget (APBN) amounting to Rp300 trillion, which has been held at Bank Indonesia (BI) and transferred to commercial banks since September 2025. Purbaya explained that the transfer of funds from the government’s account at BI to conventional banks is merely in the form of deposits, thus not reducing its value by even a single rupiah. “What I did was move Rp300 trillion in cash from BI to commercial banks. It’s still my money, just like a deposit; the money is mine, and the SAL remains intact at Rp420 trillion,” Purbaya asserted at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) building in Jakarta on Monday (27/4/2026). “My budget up to now is still safe at Rp420 trillion and hasn’t been touched at all. So people need to learn properly,” he stressed. Despite the issue being repeatedly recirculated in public, Purbaya stated he will not pursue legal action, such as reporting to the Press Council. “No need. Why bother? They’re foolish; no point in teaching them again,” he said firmly. In his view, the government has already proven that the state coffers are secure to this day and sufficient for development spending needs. Therefore, there are no plans yet to submit a revised 2026 state budget to the House of Representatives (DPR) because the APBN deficit is still maintained below 3% in line with the 2026 target. “I just moved it to the bank. I’m like a depositor, moving from BI to a bank. The money hasn’t been used for the budget up to now. The other budget is still safe,” Purbaya explained.