Purbaya Reveals Why Prabowo Cancelled Plan to Dissolve Customs and Excise

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has revealed that President Prabowo Subianto cancelled the plan to dissolve the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC), after the agency was deemed to have successfully improved its governance.

According to Purbaya, the head of state has given a clear signal that DJBC will not be dissolved, after the directorate had been threatened with dissolution since late last year if it failed to reform itself and was to be replaced by the Swiss firm Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS).

“So most likely Customs will stay,” Purbaya said at his office in Jakarta on Tuesday (21/7/2026).

According to Purbaya, President Prabowo has even commended DJBC for the improvements it has made, such as strengthening policies on surveillance and enforcement against the circulation of illegal goods.

“If we look at the award, or from the President’s speech to Customs, Mr Prabowo has seen a significant improvement at Customs,” Purbaya said.

“In the past he said dissolve it; now he has said at one cabinet meeting that Customs can be fixed and must be fixed. That is a clear signal — there is positive progress at Customs that is acknowledged by our leadership,” he asserted.

Purbaya said Customs has even developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system to strengthen the monitoring of goods entering and leaving Indonesia. The system is scheduled to come into use within the next two weeks.

“There is AI software in the field, used at Customs headquarters, that is linked to many locations across Indonesia. Two weeks from now, Mr Djaka (Director General of Customs) said there can be a demonstration for media colleagues to see that we are now more advanced than before,” Purbaya explained.

Purbaya believes the improvement is inseparable from the way he overhauled Customs’ ranks since the beginning of this year. The current senior officials leading Customs, he said, are now relatively better people.

“And they know that if they don’t perform, they will be dissolved. Revenue growth is now above 6%, and if we look at the entertainment smuggling market it has fallen significantly — smuggled goods have dropped considerably, and Customs is actively cracking down on the circulation of illegal cigarettes,” Purbaya said.

Purbaya said Customs also no longer simply releases perpetrators of illegal goods distribution after seizing their cargo, but now immediately impounds their transport vehicles, making the cost of distributing illegal goods in Indonesia far higher.

“Now every truck or vehicle involved in illegal practices is held first until everything is clear, so the cost of illegal practices becomes expensive. So now all Customs offices are full of trucks or cars that were transporting illegal goods,” he disclosed.

For context, customs and excise revenues have continued to grow. As of the first half of 2026, state revenue from customs and excise reached Rp 152 trillion, up 3.4% from the Rp 147 trillion recorded in the same period last year.

The realisation up to the end of June 2026 is equivalent to 45.2% of this year’s state budget (APBN) target of Rp 335 trillion. By year-end, Purbaya projects customs and excise remittances will reach Rp 320.6 trillion, or 95.4% of the target. Although short of target, this would still exceed last year’s Rp 300.3 trillion.