Indrawati to stay on as finance minister

JAKARTA: Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (pic) said she had been asked by President Joko Widodo to stay on in her post as his new Cabinet takes shape for a second five-year term in office.

Joko has since on Monday tapped more than a dozen candidates for ministerial posts, including his presidential election rival Prabowo Subianto, who looks set to be defence minister.

The candidates – all wearing white shirts – have come to the presidential palace to be interviewed by Joko, with most declining to confirm the positions offered ahead of an official announcement expected today.

After meeting Joko, Indrawati yesterday said she had agreed to stay on as finance minister and to ensure policies supported the president’s priorities such as improving human resources, creating jobs and executing government budgets well.

“Indonesia, I think, is facing a very dynamic and uncertain global economy and an economic slowdown that is pressuring the whole world,” Indrawati said.

“Therefore, a continued policy is needed in order to be able to guard our economy from the challenge of this global slowdown,” she said, noting she also discussed ways to narrow Indonesia’s current account and trade deficits.

Indrawati, a former managing director of the World Bank, has been finance minister since 2016, spearheading tax reform efforts, seeking to capitalise on a tax amnesty programme in 2016-2017.

She is now one of the longest serving finance ministers in Indonesia, having also held the post in the previous administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“Sri Mulyani is seen as a key architect behind the fiscal discipline in recent years and many wish for her continued leadership in driving deeper fiscal reforms,” Bank of America wrote in a note.

The make-up of the Cabinet is being closely watched to see how many technocrats – who are more likely to fall in with Joko’s plans for boosting growth and investment – were included.

Other ministerial candidates who came to the palace yesterday included Basuki Hadimuljono, who is credited with driving infrastructure projects as public works minister in Joko’s first term, and Siti Nurbaya Bakar, environment minister in the first term.