Indonesia to shut more than 750 state firms, Prabowo says

Indonesia will close more than 750 state-owned enterprises by December 31, President Prabowo Subianto told parliament on Friday, as he criticised what he called unproductive firms and “made up” profits.

Prabowo said Indonesia had 1,074 state-owned enterprises on its books, 290 of which had already been closed. He said only about 300 should be left operating by the end of the year.

The president, who took office in October 2024, suggested creating a special ad hoc court to investigate the management and boards of state-owned enterprises, potentially going back three decades. He also asked lawmakers to consider a special amnesty for those who “repent.”

Prabowo said efforts to restructure the sector under the Danantara sovereign wealth fund, created last year to manage state assets, had already saved about 50 trillion rupiah, or more than $2.8 billion, in overhead costs. He said savings included directors’ and commissioners’ salaries, building and car rentals and business travel. He also said state-owned enterprise profits rose more than 75 percent from 2024 to 326 trillion rupiah last year after management improvements.

In the same address to lawmakers, Prabowo called for a new mineral and commodities exchange, saying Indonesia should gain more from being a major producer of palm oil, nickel, tin, coal and other commodities. He said too many prices for Indonesian resources were set on foreign commodity exchanges.

Indonesia scored 34 out of 100 on Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index.