Nandito Putra, Jakarta – The Indonesian Economic Alliance (AEI) expressed a number of criticisms against the sovereign wealth fund Daya Anagata Nusantara or Danantara Indonesia. These are conveyed during a discussion hosted by Danantara in response to the demands previously signed by 458 economists and academics from both domestic and foreign institutions.
During the meeting, several economists, including Yose Rizal D, Jahen F. Rezki, and Teuku Riefky, represented the alliance. Meanwhile, Danantara was represented by several high-ranking officials, such as Muliaman Hadad and Pandu Sjahrir.
What are the economists' concerns about Danantara?
The Economic Alliance conveyed four primary concerns about Danantara in a written statement. These are the overlapping mandates in the organization, unclear financing, governance issues, and the impact of Danantara's presence on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
AEI representative, Yose Rizal, said Danantara's dominance over SOE management could disrupt the business climate. "State dominion could disrupt the health of domestic businesses," he said as quoted from the written statement on Tuesday, November 18, 2025.
Danantara's structure could not yet address development challenges and brought forth new institutional risks. Yose Rizal believes there are two main issues: misallocation of resources due to SOE dominance that suppresses local business competitiveness, and the lack of clarity in decision-making basis because it is not based on transparent and measurable economic indicators.
Another economist, Jahen F. Rezki, believes that Danantara's presence opens the door to potential overlap and risks of conflict of interest. Jahen highlighted the broad mandate of Danantara, ranging from a sovereign wealth fund to a government project funder.
According to Jahen, these various roles create confusion in policy direction. "Danantara should not become a jack-of-all-trades. Overlapping mandates without clear priorities could generate conflicts of interest and weak governance," he said.
A researcher from the Institute for Economic and Social Research at the University of Indonesia, Teuku Riefky, who is part of the alliance, noted the unclear source of Danantara's funding, which risks creating crowding-out.
He stated that this situation is unusual for the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund. "There are concerns that the expansion of Danantara's financing actually creates crowding-out for the private sector, "said Teuku.