Prabowo Prepares Dollar Incentives To Withdraw Dollars To Indonesia

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Purbaya Yudhi Sadivewa revealed that the government is finalizing the latest incentive strategy to withdraw dollar funds belonging to Indonesian citizens which have been stored abroad to return to the country.

Purbaya said that this plan is projected to be implemented in the next month or so.

"It's about the plan to withdraw the money that people like to put outside so that they come back here (Indonesia, ed). But, it's still not ripe, we are still finalizing it again," he said after facing President Prabowo Subianto as reported by ANTARA, Friday, September 19.

Purbaya explained that the scheme that is being prepared is entirely market-based, so it is not coercion.

He said the government would offer attractive incentives so that people would prefer to save dollars in Indonesia rather than send them abroad.

"There will be incentives where Indonesians prefer to spend dollars here than outside," he said.

According to him, although the current domestic dollar supply is relatively improving, there are still flow of funds moving abroad every month.

By keeping these funds domestically, said Purbaya, foreign exchange reserves can increase, increasing the supply of bank dollars, and financing strategic projects, including downstream industry, can be guaranteed with competitive interest.

Purbaya emphasized that the details of the policy are still being finalized, but assessed that this incentive plan has the potential to strengthen national financial stability while at the same time supporting domestic economic growth.