Antara, Jakarta – Indonesia is preparing a new market-based incentive scheme to encourage citizens to repatriate U.S. dollar savings held abroad, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said Friday, outlining one of his first major policy priorities since taking office.
Speaking after meeting President Prabowo Subianto at the presidential palace in Jakarta, Purbaya said the program is expected to be rolled out within a month. He added that the measures will not be compulsory but will instead provide attractive incentives for Indonesians to keep their dollar funds domestically.
"This is about bringing back the dollars people like to keep overseas. We are still finalizing the plan, but the idea is to create incentives that make people prefer to place their dollars here rather than abroad," Purbaya told reporters.
Although Indonesia's domestic dollar supply has recently improved, authorities remain concerned about recurring capital outflows. Purbaya said keeping funds within the country would help bolster foreign exchange reserves, expand banks' dollar liquidity, and secure financing for strategic projects, including mineral value-added processing, at more competitive borrowing costs.
Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves stood at $150.7 billion in August 2025, down slightly from $152 billion in July, Bank Indonesia reported earlier this week. The decline was attributed to external debt repayments and the central bank's intervention to stabilize the rupiah amid global financial market volatility. Despite the dip, the reserves remain sufficient, covering 6.1 months of imports and government external debt obligations, more than double the international adequacy standard of three months.
In a separate move to stimulate lending and economic activity, Purbaya also announced the transfer of Rp 200 trillion ($12 billion) in government funds to five state-controlled banks by Friday evening. State lenders Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) will each receive Rp 55 trillion (nearly $3.4 billion), while Islamic lender Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) will get Rp 10 trillion ($611 million). State-owned mortgage lender Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) is set to receive Rp 25 trillion ($1.5 billion).