Airlangga Reveals Who is the Governor of BI, Fiscal-Monetary Synergy Must Be Maintained

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto (center)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto spoke up regarding the figure to replace Perry Warjiyo as Governor of the Bank Indonesia (BI).

According to Airlangga, the appointment of the Governor of BI is the prerogative of President Prabowo Subianto. "Yes, we will leave it to the President," he told the media, quoted Thursday, July 30.

However, Airlangga believes that the change of leadership at the central bank will not disrupt the continuity of monetary policy.

In addition, he assessed that the system that has been built at BI is able to maintain policy stability, whoever is appointed as governor.

Airlangga hopes that the new BI leader will continue to strengthen the synergy between fiscal and monetary policies to support economic growth, keep inflation under control, and encourage job creation.

"We believe that because BI already has a system. So whoever sits there, as long as they run the system and fiscal monetary cooperation will be good for economic growth, suppress inflation, and create jobs," he said.

For information, after Perry Warjiyo resigned from the position of Governor of BI, the position of the head of the central bank was temporarily run by Senior Deputy Governor Destry Damayanti as Acting (Pjs) until the President appointed the definitive Governor of BI.

Previously, Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa emphasized that the change of leadership at Bank Indonesia (BI) following the resignation of Perry Warjiyo as BI Governor would not disrupt coordination in the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK).

According to Purbaya, the synergy between KSSK members will still run optimally because the officials involved have long experience in maintaining the stability of the national financial system.

He said that the Senior Deputy Governor of the BI Destry Damayanti who played a role in the transition period was not a new figure in the KSSK environment and had long been involved in policy discussions in the forum.

"KSSK actually doesn't have many changes. Ibu Destry is not a new player. She is an old player. So she has been involved in the KSSK process for quite some time, even though she used to play a role in LPS and BI," he told the media, quoted Wednesday, July 29.

Purbaya assessed that the experience was an important resource to ensure that policy coordination was maintained, especially in maintaining monetary stability and the financial system in the midst of the central bank leadership transition process.

He also believes that Destry has a strong understanding of monetary policy so that he is able to maintain the continuity of the Bank Indonesia policy direction.

"So the knowledge is very good and very qualified to ensure that monetary policy runs according to what it should be," he said.

Furthermore, Purbaya emphasized that the government together with all members of the KSSK will continue to strengthen coordination to maintain national economic stability.

According to him, the change of leadership at BI will not reduce the solidity between authorities in facing various economic challenges.

"Yes, the important thing is that we show the market that our policies remain solid and pro-growth and pro-stability and market-friendly," he said.