By Danantara Monitor
President Prabowo Subianto announced on Wednesday (20/5) the formation of a state-owned entity to manage the exports of Indonesian commodities as part of efforts to address tax evasion that had hampered state revenues for years.
“Today, the Indonesian government under my leadership issued a Government Regulation concerning the management of natural resources exports. This regulation is a strategic step to strengthen the governance of our natural resources commodities,” President Prabowo said at the House of Representatives.
Prabowo said that Indonesia will begin selling its palm oil, coal, and ferroalloys through a designated state-owned enterprise (SOE) that serves as the sole exporter.
“The primary objective of this policy is to strengthen supervision and monitoring and eradicate practices such as underpayment, under-invoicing, transfer pricing, and foreign exchange misappropriation from exports,” he said.
President Prabowo did not specify the designated SOE. However, the plan was first reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday (19/5), with people familiar with the matter quoted as saying the government plans to set up a new state entity to oversee commodity exports and curb under-invoicing. The new entity would be supervised by sovereign wealth fund Danantara, which reports to President Prabowo Subianto.
Official documents revealed that PT Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia was recently formed on May 19, 2026, by PT Danantara Investment Management and PT Danantara Mitra Sinergi. The entity listed Danantara Indonesia Senior Director Luke Thomas Mahony—former chief strategy and technical officer at PT Vale Indonesia and CTO for Vale Base Metals—as director and Harold Jonathan Dharma Tj as commissioner.
The announcement was part of President Prabowo’s speech, where he delivered the macroeconomic framework and fiscal policy for the 2027 State Budget to the House, breaking the longstanding tradition of delegating the task to the Finance Minister.
The Indonesian government expects the economy to grow at around 5.8% to 6.5% in 2027, with inflation of between 1.5% and 3.5%. Meanwhile, the rupiah exchange rate is expected to be about 16,800 to 17,500 per USD.
Danantara CEO Rosan Roeslani is expected to deliver a statement following President Prabowo’s speech in the same day.
Speculations surrounding the potential new policies in the natural resources sector had cautioned investors. The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) fell 3.46% to 6,370.68 on Tuesday, led by a decline in commodity-based stocks. The JCI continued weakening following the president’s speech, falling as much as 2% before the midday break.
A note from Eastpring Investments said market participants are awaiting President Prabowo’s speech at the House of Representatives (DPR) regarding the presentation of the Macroeconomic Framework and Fiscal Policy Principles (KEMPPKF) for the 2027 Draft State Budget (RAPBN) and Bank Indonesia’s interest rate decision, scheduled for Wednesday.