Indonesia Enters 2026 With Rising Confidence as Policies Start to Deliver

JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — Bank Indonesia or BI, Indonesia's central bank, enters 2026 with rising confidence on Monday, Dec 1, 2025 in Jakarta as this year’s economic policies begin to take measurable effect, according to Senior Deputy Governor Destry Damayanti. She said the government’s liquidity support had already strengthened the financial system and added that the remaining challenge lay on the demand side, which she placed firmly on the private sector.

The government had already placed large liquidity buffers to support growth. Destry said the government deposited Rp 276 trillion in the banking sector to push lending rates down and open more room for investment. She urged Kadin Indonesia, the country’s main business association, to mobilize the private sector to seize the available liquidity.

“It is not possible for the government alone to move. We also need encouragement from the private sector,” she said during the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) National Leadership Meeting. She noted that banks had begun reopening their risk appetite after the central bank’s policy rate cuts, adding, “However, we are waiting for the demand side to match the existing liquidity supply.”

Destry warned that without stronger credit demand, banks would channel liquidity back to BI through the deposit facility or into government securities. “This is what we do not want. We have already imposed limits at BI,” she said. She also underlined BI’s role as lender of last resort, stating, “As the lender of last resort, if a bank needs a loan, we must provide it. If it cannot place funds in the interbank market, we must accept them. That is the deposit facility.”

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa struck an equally optimistic tone at the same event. He said Indonesia could achieve 6 percent growth with ease and reach 6.5 percent without major difficulty, adding, “Seven percent or eight percent will require extra effort.”

He compared Indonesia’s growth engines across administrations. He said the economy grew an average of 6 percent under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono because the private sector played the dominant role and Kadin’s contribution was substantial. “During the SBY era he did not build massive infrastructure. Why could the economy reach 6 percent? Because he allowed the real sector to grow, the private sector grew, and Kadin’s role at that time was certainly significant,” he said.

He added that growth under President Joko Widodo averaged around 5 percent because the government assumed the role of the main economic engine through large-scale infrastructure spending. “He built infrastructure everywhere, but the private sector’s role was smaller, and as a result growth was only 5 percent,” he said.

Purbaya said the administration of President Prabowo Subianto aimed to restore balance between private investment and government spending so the policy momentum of 2025 could translate into stronger growth in 2026.