US First Country Granted DHE-SDA Exemption

JAKARTA – The government has opened the possibility of granting exceptions to the rules on placing Foreign Exchange from Natural Resource Exports (DHE-SDA) for countries with bilateral agreements or trade cooperation with Indonesia. However, to date, the government has only confirmed the United States (US) as the country that has received clarity on the exemption scheme. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stated that the core philosophy of the DHE-SDA policy is to encourage exporters benefiting from domestic financial systems to place their foreign exchange earnings domestically. Therefore, the government aims to ensure export proceeds circulate domestically to benefit the national economy. ‘President often says that companies receiving financing from domestic banks, which profit from exports, should place their export earnings domestically rather than overseas,’ Purbaya said at Wisma Danantara on Sunday (31 May 2026). He explained that technical regulations regarding exemptions for trade partner countries will be refined as the DHE-SDA policy is implemented. On the same occasion, Purbaya also confirmed that the establishment of PT Danantara Sumber Daya Indonesia (DSI) as the single-window export manager for strategic commodities would not alter businesses’ tax obligations. He stated that all tax obligations would continue as per current regulations. However, through strengthened export oversight, the government aims to curb practices that could harm the nation, such as export value manipulation and tax evasion. He added that the government would continuously monitor the policy’s impact on the national economy and state revenue before considering further steps in taxation and export governance. He stressed that quarterly evaluations would measure the impact of DSI implementation on state revenue. These evaluations will commence as the single-window mechanism for strategic natural resource commodities’ export governance takes effect. ‘DSI will be monitored and evaluated every three months. Therefore, in about three months from now, we will be able to clearly state the impact of the DSI policy on state revenue,’ Purbaya stressed.