Bambang Ismoyo, Jakarta – Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Saturday that the government would not tolerate manipulative practices that undermine the integrity of Indonesia's capital markets, including stock price rigging.

Airlangga's remarks came after a week of severe turbulence on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), triggered by criticism from global index provider MSCI Inc over limited transparency and the potential for coordinated transactions in the market.

Over the past week, the benchmark stock index fell nearly 7%, while IDX market capitalization shrank by about Rp 1,198 trillion ($71 billion) to Rp 15,046 trillion ($896 billion).

Airlangga said a well-functioning capital market is a critical pillar of the national financial system, serving not only as a source of funding for businesses but also as a barometer of investor confidence in economic stability and governance standards.

"The state will step in and take firm action to safeguard the credibility and integrity of Indonesia's capital market," Airlangga said at a press conference in Jakarta.

"The government will not tolerate price rigging or manipulative stock transactions that harm investors and damage the credibility and integrity of the capital market," he said.

He stressed that stock price manipulation disproportionately harms retail investors, as share prices no longer reflect corporate performance or underlying fundamentals, but are instead driven by the interests of a small group of market players.

Airlangga warned that the consequences of market manipulation extend beyond investor losses and can become systemic, eroding trust in the national financial system as a whole. Such conditions, he said, risk discouraging both domestic and foreign investment.

"In a global context, foreign investor confidence is crucial for attracting foreign direct investment into Indonesia," he said. "Market manipulation affects not only stock prices and investor interests, but also the credibility of the national financial system and the flow of foreign capital."

The recent market turmoil has already prompted a series of high-level resignations. IDX CEO Iman Rachman stepped down, followed by the resignation of Financial Services Authority (OJK) chairman Mahendra Siregar and his two deputies – Inarno Djajadi, who is in charge of capital markets supervision, and Aditya Jayaantara.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/government-to-crack-down-on-stock-price-rigging-says-airlangg