President Prabowo Strengthens National Wealth Governance Through Bullion Bank, DSI
President Prabowo Subianto reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to ensuring that Indonesia’s natural resources and strategic commodities are managed optimally to strengthen the national economy. One of the measures taken by the Government, the President noted, was the establishment of the Indonesian Bullion Bank, ensuring that gold as a commodity is not merely mined, but also stored and traded.
The President made the statements in his address at the Annual Session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the Joint Session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the House of Regional Representatives (DPD), at Nusantara Building in the Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta, on Friday (08/14).
“Today, having been in operation for just one year, our bullion bank at Pegadaian and Bank Syariah Indonesia (two state-owned enterprises) have managed 153 tons of gold valued at around Rp360 trillion, or approximately US$20 billion. Indonesia’s wealth must strengthen our savings, financing, and economy,” the President stated.
In addition to the Bullion Bank, the Government also improved the governance of strategic commodity exports through PT Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI) (a state-owned natural resources management company) as the single gateway for managing Indonesia’s commodity exports. The President explained that this measure aims to ensure consistency between the volume of commodities loaded, reported, and received in destination countries.
“Now we can monitor how many tons are loaded onto ships, how many are reported on paper, and how many reach the export destinations. We do not want one report to differ from the report in destination countries,” the President said.
Since beginning operations last June, the President mentioned that DSI had managed US$14 billion in export earnings from three strategic commodities: coal, palm oil, and iron and steel. In addition, over 6,000 export transactions had been monitored, resulting in potential additional findings of US$5 billion from price discrepancies and adjustments.
“DSI will expand its supervision to cover 50 ports across 25 provinces. As I have mentioned, DSI will manage all of our strategic export commodities, not just three,” he explained.
This measure, the President emphasized, was part of efforts to ensure Indonesia’s wealth provides the greatest possible benefits to the people.
“Rating agencies and even financial institutions have assessed DSI as a positive step for the Indonesian people. It is they who say it, not us. We value all input, but as long as we are confident that we are on the right track, we will continue to work,” he concluded. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (YA/TM)
