Danantara to Bear $4.8 Billion Debt Instead of State Budget

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa announced on October 13 that Jakarta will not tap the national treasury to cover the debt of state‑owned enterprises. He urged that the sovereign wealth fund Danantara, which collects dividends from roughly 1,000 SOEs, should shoulder the $4.8 billion liability. Danantara already manages about 80 trillion rupiah (US$4.8 billion) in dividends, and Sadewa argued that if the fund is receiving the profits, it should also absorb the debt. 'Using the state budget for this is absurd,' he told reporters, noting that all SOE earnings funnel into Danantara but the burden has been falling on the government.