Purbaya Denies Instructing An Increase In Dollar Deposit Interest Rates In Himbara

Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadive emphasized that the decision of a number of state-owned banks to simultaneously raise foreign exchange deposit interest rates (varas) by up to 4 percent was not a directive from him.

According to Purbaya, this clarification needs to be conveyed because the issue has sparked negative sentiment in the financial market and put pressure on the rupiah exchange rate against the United States (US) dollar.

"People accuse me of being the finance minister's policy of banking dictation to increase the dollar deposit interest to 4 percent. So there is no such policy," he said in a media briefing, Friday, September 26.

He added that he had never instructed the finance ministry, Danantara or banking to raise deposit interest rates.

However, he admitted that he had conveyed in a discussion that the government was considering incentives for foreign exchange owners to transfer their funds from abroad, especially Singapore, to Indonesia.

According to him, the plan is still in the discussion stage and there has been no final decision because of the risks that must be taken into account.

He added that President Prabowo Subianto had asked the relevant team to carry out more in-depth calculations of the policy.

"So it's not finished yet. So it's also between me, the antara should order its banks to carry out business practices according to market base conditions, so it won't intervene directly either," he said.

Purbaya emphasized that he as a supporter of the market mechanism that the push for low interest rates must be done by increasing liquidity so that the supply increases and not with direct instructions to lower interest rates.

"So we always direct our policies to direct the market to be more efficient," he added.

He also reminded that if the foreign exchange deposit interest rate is set at 4 percent, while the rupiah deposit interest guaranteed by LPS is currently only 3.75 percent, there will be a shift in funds (switching) from rupiah to dollars.

"So that must be calculated again by them later. By the team ordered by the President. I have entered it, so they have to count it first. I have calculated it. I just don't know why the figure came out. Maybe someone is too early to carry out the President's idea. This means that the risk has not been calculated yet," he explained.

Purbaya also emphasized that none of the KSSK members, including Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo, the Financial Services Authority (OJK), and the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) issued policy instructions to increase the interest of foreign exchange deposits.

"Not yet. Even from what I know, I told you to study it first for 2 weeks. 2 weeks it will end Friday, Friday next week. The team hasn't returned yet. So I'm just waiting. So it hasn't been there. We should have discussed it with the KSSK. I'm the chairman of the KSSK. I haven't heard that means not. I discussed with the Governor of BI either, you've heard of it? Not really," he explained.

Ia menduga kenaikan bunga deposito tersebut bisa jadi merupakan inisiatif dari beberapa pimpinan bank itu sendiri, mungkin karena kebutuhan internal dan menegaskan bahwa tidak ada instruksi resmi dari Kementerian Keuangan, Bank Indonesia, maupun Danantara.

"Jadi mungkin itu inisiatif beberapa pemimpin bank, tapi kita lihat mungkin mereka merasa butuh atau enggak. Tapi yang jelas enggak ada instruksi dari kami, dari BI, Danantara, Danantara juga biasanya mereka menekankan market base. Artinya bisnis seperti business entity tanpa intervensi berlebihan dari pemilik," tegasnya.

He suspects that the increase in deposit interest could be an initiative of several bank leaders themselves, perhaps because of internal needs and asserting that there are no official instructions from the Ministry of Finance, Bank Indonesia, or Danantara.

"So maybe it's the initiative of some bank leaders, but we can see that maybe they feel they need it or not. But what is clear is that there are no instructions from us, from BI, Danantara, Danantara, they also usually emphasize market bases. This means that businesses such as business entities without excessive intervention from owners," he said.