JAKARTA - Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa received a reprimand from the Deputy Chairman of Commission XI of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Dolfie Othniel Frederic Palit, regarding the placement of the Surplus Budget Balance (SAL) funds in the State-owned Bank Association (Himbara) banks.
The debate arose in the working meeting of Commission XI of the Indonesian House of Representatives after Purbaya stated that the placement of the funds did not require the approval of the DPR because it was part of the management of government cash.
At the beginning of the meeting, Dolfie asked for an explanation regarding the amount of SAL placed by the government in banks throughout 2025 and 2026.
Answering the question, Purbaya explained that the government had placed SAL around Rp200 trillion, and when there was turmoil in the financial market, the government's cash balance held at Bank Indonesia was almost Rp600 trillion so that some funds were placed in the banking system, including Himbara.
"The last data is Rp200 trillion. Then I added when there was a shake-up. When I wanted to return it, the government's money in BI was a lot, the SAL was almost Rp600 (trillion). I think most of it, so I put Rp400 trillion into the system," he said in a working meeting with Commission XI of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Wednesday, July 15.
He explained that the placement of the funds had different time periods, namely Rp200 trillion was placed until the end of 2026, Rp100 trillion for three months, while the other Rp100 trillion was flexible to maintain sufficient liquidity in the banking system.
When asked about the placement of SAL in 2026, Purbaya said the value was around Rp200 trillion and emphasized that the funds were not used for other purposes.
The statement then sparked a debate. Dolfie questioned whether the policy of placing the SAL had obtained the approval of the DPR as stipulated in the 2026 State Budget Law. "According to you, do you need the DPR's approval or not?" asked Dolfie.
In response to this, Purbaya argued that parliamentary approval was not necessary because the placement of funds was only part of the government's cash management and did not change the use of the budget.
"No, sir, because it's just cash management, sir, nothing is used at all," replied Purbaya.
However, Dolfie emphasized that the provisions in the 2026 State Budget Law require that each SAL placement obtain the approval of the DPR, and the government cannot base the policy solely on the reason for cash management.
"Later we will see in the 2026 State Budget Law, if there is a SAL placement, it must be approved by the DPR. Later we will see the law. If 2025 is not, but 2026 must be approved by the DPR in the State Budget Law," he said.
Purbaya then revealed that the policy of placing funds in SOEs banks was not decided unilaterally, and admitted that he had consulted with one of the leaders of the DPR and obtained informal approval.
The statement was again responded to by Dolfie. He emphasized that the DPR's approval must be decided through an official meeting and recorded in the minutes, not through communication with individual DPR members or leaders.
"The DPR's approval was in the meeting Pak, not person to person, Mr. came to Pak Haris, Mr. came to Zidan, Mr. came to Hekal, and agreed. No Sir, there is a meeting minutes," he said.
Responding to this explanation, Purbaya stated that he would study the provisions in the 2026 State Budget Law and emphasized that the placement of SAL was solely carried out to maintain the stability of government cash management.
"Okay sir, we will study it again sir, thank you sir. Gini Pak, it was only done for the good intention of taking care of us all sir, thank you sir," he said.
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