Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto gestures while delivering a speech in front of stacks of banknotes during a ceremony marking the work of his forestry task force at the Indonesian Attorney General’s Office in Jakarta on April 10, 2026. (Photo: Reuters)
SINGAPORE/LONDON - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is losing the trust of investors and his growth agenda risks being undone by a plunging currency.The special forces commander-turned-politician has run a chaotic administration since taking office in 2024, promising free meals for millions of school children and undoing decades of spending discipline to chase growth.
But a battering from the global energy shock and a number of unorthodox decisions - from centralising commodity exports under a sprawling sovereign fund that reports directly to Prabowo, to new jobs and growth mandates for the central bank - have rocked investor confidence.
Those moves have taken the sheen off what was, just a couple of years ago, an emerging market poster child; today, credit default swaps imply Southeast Asia's largest economy will lose its investment-grade credit rating.
The country's currency and stock market are the world's worst performers in 2026. The rupiah, in particular, is both a symptom and a source of trouble as its fall starts to drive even more selling.
