Ilona Estherina, Jakarta – The Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) has criticized the inaugural bond issuance by PT Danantara Investment Management, valued at US$1.5 billion or roughly Rp26.5 trillion. The rollout of Danantara's Global Bond is feared to pose risks, such as accruing interest payments that could absorb dividends from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and morph into a shadow burden on the state's finances.
Celios Executive Director Bhima Yudhistira responded to the debt issuance as a maneuver to fund programs that cannot be covered by the state budget. "Part of the National Strategic Project (PSN) is being funded by Danantara rather than the state budget, creating quasi-fiscal risks," he stated in an official release on Saturday, June 20, 2026.
According to Celios, such a large-scale debt issuance, particularly denominated in foreign currency, raises concerns about exchange rate fluctuations and liquidity mismatches from short-term tenors while its portfolio feeds into long-term investments. Additionally, the think tank warned of the risk of Danantara operating as a shadow state budget.
Concerns have also surfaced regarding transparency over how the borrowed funds will be deployed. "Government obligations, such as maintaining subsidized energy prices and funding price differentials, could be transferred as burdens to SOEs. For example, when the government holds back fuel or electricity tariffs, Pertamina or PLN will pay the compensation costs upfront," Bhima noted.
Given Danantara's heavy borrowing, Bhima questioned whether there is any guarantee that these funds will not be used to inject capital into energy SOEs currently burdened by government compensation debts, or to patch up cash shortfalls derived from those state energy obligations.
Celios also raised alarms over how Danantara intends to manage its mounting leverage. Danantara's current claims of holding US$1 trillion in assets were described as unverified in terms of liquidity and risk exposure for each asset class. As a result, the massive debt issuance is feared to spark interest payments that absorb dividends from SOEs.
Danantara has yet to provide a detailed breakdown regarding the allocation of proceeds from this debut US dollar-denominated Global Bond. However, Danantara Chief Executive Officer Rosan Roeslani stated that the issuance is split into 5-year and 10-year tenors, with each absorbing US$750 million.
He noted that the Global Bond issuance was oversubscribed more than three times. Rosan maintained that this indicates the high global investor interest in Indonesia.
Danantara had initially targeted an inaugural issuance of US$1 billion. However, after Rosan conducted a series of roadshows across several international financial hubs, investor demands surged to reach US$4.6 billion, or approximately Rp81.5 trillion based on an exchange rate of Rp17,725 per US dollar. Thus, the final inaugural bond issuance was scaled up to US$1.5 billion, or around Rp26.5 trillion.
Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2109553/risks-behind-danantaras-us1-5-billion-global-bon