Purbaya denies recession, says people's purchasing power is still strong

Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa assessed that the weakening of the rupiah exchange rate that occurred on Monday, March 9, 2026 did not reflect the actual fundamental conditions of the Indonesian economy.

Based on Bloomberg data, at the close of trading on Monday, March 9, 2026, the rupiah was recorded at the level of IDR 16,949 per US dollar or weakened by around 0.14 percent compared to the previous Friday's trading close which was at the level of IDR 16,925 per US dollar.

Previously, at the opening of the morning trading, the rupiah even touched Rp17,015 per US dollar or weakened by around 90 points (0.53 percent).

Purbaya explained that pressure on the rupiah was also influenced by the sentiment of some economists who assessed that Indonesia was in a recession.

"The rupiah is Rp17,000 because some economists say that we are in recession again, like 1997-1998 again. That's it, purchasing power has been destroyed," he told the media, Monday, March 9.

However, he emphasized that the current national economic conditions are not in a recessionary situation.

According to him, Indonesia's economic activity is still in the expansion phase and even shows acceleration in growth and the government is also continuing to strive to maintain people's purchasing power so that it remains stable in the near future.

"Let alone a crisis, not even a recession, it's not slowing down. We are still expanding, still accelerating, it's just not slowing down. We are still expanding, still accelerating. That's what we will continue to take care of in the next few weeks," he said.

He added that investors, especially in the stock market, did not need to worry because the Indonesian economic foundation was still strong and well maintained.

The government, he said, has had experience in dealing with various economic turmoil, including the crisis in 1997-1998, the global crisis of 2008-2009, to economic pressure during the 2020 pandemic.

"So friends don't have to be afraid, we have enough experience and knowledge to mitigate all the turmoil that has occurred. Of course, with the necessary steps, it is always necessary to be clear that the experience of 2008, 2020, 2015, we can maintain the momentum of our economic growth," he said.

He also assessed that the narrative that said people's purchasing power had weakened was not entirely in line with conditions on the ground.

From the results of observations, trading activity in the market is still crowded and people still carry out shopping transactions, showing that people's purchasing power is still maintained and the economy is not in a recession.

"This means that people's purchasing power seems to be improving and we are not in a recession, let alone from a crisis, we are far from a crisis," he said.

Purbaya emphasized that the government would also continue to maintain economic stability, including anticipating the potential for an increase in world oil prices.

He said that if global oil prices increased, the government would try to mitigate the impact through the state budget policy or APBN so that pressure on the domestic economy remained under control.

"So the economy is good. Friends don't have to be afraid. Later if the world oil price rises, we will try to absorb it through the state budget and we will control it as much as possible," he concluded.