Dikritik Economist Didik Rachbini, Purbaya: Dia Salah Tafsir Undang-Undang

The Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, Purbaya Yudhi Sadive. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadive responded to criticism submitted by the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) senior economist Didik J. Rachbini regarding the policy of transferring funds of Rp. 200 trillion to state-owned bank ensembles (Himbara).

According to him, the criticism was inappropriate because the policies taken did not violate the applicable rules and he had received direct input from the Lambock V. Nahattands law expert, who considered that Didik's assessment of the policy was inappropriate.

"Mr. Didik has one of the laws. I was called by Mr. Lambok, a law expert, right. He told me, Mr. Didik was wrong and this had been done before," he told the media crew, Tuesday, September 16.

He explained that the placement of the budget in hebara was not changing the budget, but only the transfer of fund allocations and things like this had been done before.

"There is nothing wrong, I have also consulted with Mr. Lambok and legal experts at the Ministry of Finance," he explained.

Purbaya added that a similar mechanism had also been implemented in 2008 (September) and 2021 (May), without causing legal problems.

"So Mr. Didik must learn again, it looks like it," he said.

He explained that the funds were only transferred from Bank Indonesia to commercial banks, without changing the status or ownership of funds.

"Anyway, my money in my bank is shifted, from BI shear. So it's not borrowed, I just put it, I move the money. Like you have money in bank A and bank B, you move the money from bank B to bank A. Your money is still the same, yes, savings, what. So it doesn't matter, just move," he explained.

Furthermore, he explained that the main difference lies in the characteristics of the storage area.

Purbaya said that the funds placed in the central bank cannot be accessed directly by the banking sector and the economy, but vice versa, if placed in a commercial bank, these funds can be circulated and provide stimulus to the economy.

"So a lot of people misunderstand. It's as if I used SAL (More Budget Balance) to build or I took the money for a certain development. No. I just force banks to think professionally," he said.

According to him, the goal is that this fund can encourage market mechanisms to run more optimally, because so far, banks tend to be passive by placing funds in safe instruments such as bonds or in central banks.

"So now they have to think according to their function. What function of banking is made for," he said.

Previously, senior economist INDEF Didik J. Rachbini criticized the policy of the Minister of Finance, Purbaya Yudhi Sadive, which transferred government funds of Rp200 trillion from Bank Indonesia to five state-owned banks of Himbara members.

He considered that the move violated at least three regulations, namely the 1945 Constitution Article 23, Law Number 17 of 2003 concerning State Finance, and the State Budget Law every year.

Didik emphasized that the state budget cannot be transferred unilaterally without going through a legal legislative process.

He also asked President Prabowo Subianto to stop the policy because it was considered contrary to the principle of budget governance regulated by law.

According to him, state funds should only be placed in commercial banks for the operational interests of the state budget, not for programs that are not listed in the state budget.

He also said that the transfer of funds risks violating Law Number 1 of 2004 concerning the state treasurer, namely Articles 22, Paragraph 4, 8 and 9.