Purbaya Says S&P Rating Most Fair, Others 'Offside'

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - S&P Global Ratings has maintained Indonesia’s credit rating at BBB for the long term and A-2 for the short term, while keeping the country’s outlook stable. This decision provides a boost for the nation, which has recently been shadowed by less favourable news from other global rating agencies, starting with outlook revisions by Moody’s and Fitch.

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa considers S&P’s assessment of Indonesia to be fair and accurate. He argued that S&P’s evaluation was more equitable than those of Moody’s and Fitch. Although all three agencies maintained Indonesia’s debt or credit rating, Moody’s and Fitch revised their outlook from stable to negative.

‘I have said many times, the other agencies may have been offside because they made their assessment before the first-quarter economic growth data was released. Remember that? I said it was too hasty, not that they were wrong, just too hasty. So I think S&P is the fairest,’ Purbaya stated at the DPR Building in Central Jakarta, as quoted on Wednesday (14/7/2026).

He further suggested that Moody’s and Fitch tended to revise Indonesia’s investment outlook to negative, creating sentiment that led to poor public perception of his and the President’s performance in managing the state budget. According to him, S&P’s decision to maintain the long-term BBB rating, the A-2 short-term rating, and the stable outlook is a global acknowledgement that the government is managing its fiscal policy well and prudently while accelerating economic growth.

‘This is different from what some observers have shown, claiming we are running the fiscal policy brutally and so on. So S&P’s assessment demolishes the accusations that I or the President are mismanaging fiscal affairs,’ he asserted. Purbaya also stressed that S&P has always applied very high standards in rating sovereign debt and is not influenced by political elements.