RI Officially Enters Financial Action Task Forces To Increase International Community Trust

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) Mahendra Siregar said Indonesia had been officially accepted as a full member of the Financial Action Task Forces (FATF) as stipulated in the Plenary Meeting FATF dated October 25, 2023.

Mahendra said this achievement shows that the national financial services sector has comprehensively met international standards in implementing the Anti-Money Laundering program, Prevention of Terrorism Financing and Prevention of Funding for Proliferation of Mass Destruction Weapons (APU, PPT, and PPSPM).

According to him, Indonesia's position as a full member of the FATF places Indonesia on par with G20 member countries with strong financial system integrity.

"So that it will increase public confidence, including the international community, in the integrity of the Indonesian financial sector and in turn it will have a positive impact on improving the national economy," he explained at a press conference at the OJK Board of Commissioners Meeting, Monday, October 30.

On the other hand, Mahendra said, the national financial services sector is maintained stable, supported by strong capital, adequate liquidity conditions, and maintained risk profiles.

This, he explained, increases the optimism that the financial services sector is able to mitigate the risk of increasing global uncertainty, both from higher for longer global interest rates and increasing geopolitical tension.

On the other hand, the divergence of global economic performance is still continuing.

In the United States, economic growth in the third quarter of 2023 recorded an increase of 4.9 percent, followed by labor markets continuing to improve and high persistent inflationary pressures.

This is driving the increase in sell-offs in US bond markets in line with the increasing expectations of higher-for-longer interest rates and also the increasing UST supply to finance the US deficit.

Meanwhile, global geopolitical risks are increasing along with the Israeli and Hamas conflicts, which have the potential to significantly disrupt the world economy in the event of an escalation in the Middle East.

"In Europe, economic performance is predicted to still experience stagflation. Meanwhile in China, economic recovery is still not in line with expectations and economic performance, which is still at the pandemic level increasing concerns for the recovery of the global economy," he said.