Purbaya: The number of people in hardship will shrink further within six months
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa is confident that the conditions of Indonesian households will improve in six months as the government accelerates national economic growth. He says the government is pushing growth to be more supported by the private sector and domestic activity so the impact can be felt directly by the public.
“Six months from now, I think it will be clearer that the people who were previously struggling will be fewer and fewer,” Purbaya said at the Jogja Financial Festival 2026, quoted from the official LPS YouTube account on Friday (22/5/2026).
Purbaya noted that a depreciation of the rupiah and movements in the Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG) cannot be used as a direct reflection of Indonesia’s fundamental economic condition. “The rupiah and IHSG are different from the economic fundamentals. Sometimes it is driven by expectations about the future, such as what will happen downstream. The rupiah exchange rate is driven by expectations, as is the stock market,” he said.
According to Purbaya, negative sentiment towards Indonesia’s financial markets has recently been influenced by various factors, ranging from the evaluation by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), downgrades in credit outlook by several global rating agencies, to pressure on the rupiah. However, he believes that these conditions do not reflect the country’s overall economic fundamentals.
Purbaya stressed that the government is continuing to improve the economic foundations to prevent a crisis like 1998. “And now, although not perfect, no major policy is wrong. We will not repeat 1998,” he said.
The finance minister even noted that Indonesia is currently not under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) aid program as it was during the 1998 crisis. “Back then there was the IMF; now I’m not IMF. I’m a bit smarter than the IMF. So there’s no need to fear,” Purbaya said with a laugh.
The state treasurer expressed optimism that the acceleration of economic growth will begin to show in the coming months, especially if the private sector’s growth engine starts operating more strongly. With these conditions, he hopes the economic pressures felt by the public will gradually ease.