TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Jokowi names BI chief Perry Warjiyo for second term
The move all but guarantees that Perry, 63, will helm the central bank until 2028.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has nominated Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo for a second five-year term in the post, a senior lawmaker at the House of Representatives familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, confirming that no other candidates would be nominated.
House budget committee chair Said Abdullah said President Jokowi had sent Perry's name to the legislature as his sole candidate for the post.
“President Jokowi is believed to have nominated Pak Perry Warjiyo for the Bank Indonesia governor post. We certainly need to secure the President’s policy as we are part of the political force that supports the government,” said Said.
He added that Perry, during his first term as the central bank governor, had successfully “built chemistry” with the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Indonesian Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS).
“The global economy is predicted to be uneasy, while domestically, we are heading into a year of politics. We need a BI governor who has the ability to make sure that our economy will still be able to grow and is sustainable,” Said continued. “The current BI governor has been able to perform that role well.”
Perry's term as BI governor is set to end in May and lawmakers are expected to deliberate on the appointment when they return from recess on March 13.
The move all but guarantees that Perry, 63, will helm the central bank until 2028. He took on his first five-year term in May 2018 after decades of climbing up the bank’s ranks.
BI governors are eligible for two, five-year terms.
The rupiah pared its losses to 0.1 percent following the announcement, after falling as much as 0.3 percent earlier on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported.
His reappointment is rare in BI’s history, as most governors have served only a single term. It is also a testament to the government’s faith in Perry as a central banker, after he steered the economy through financial crises and the tumultuous pandemic years with a focus on “preemptive and forward-looking” policy, Bloomberg wrote on Wednesday.
BI is among the first central banks in the region to be able to pause its tightening cycle as inflation eases.
Monetary authorities in places such as Australia, India and the Philippines are still grappling with persistent price pressures, forcing them to double down on a more hawkish stance.
Perry has also been using tools other than interest rates to avoid excessive tightening that could stunt growth. Most recently, the bank has been luring home exporters’ dollar earnings and pushing up short-term bond yields to attract inflows.
Under the newly passed Law No. 4/2023 on financial sector development and strengthening, the President is obligated to submit the names of candidates for the central bank governorship to the House of Representatives three months before the current governor’s term ends.
Lawmakers had expected Jokowi to submit the candidates’ names by the third week of this month.
Prior to Wednesday’s announcement, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and the central bank’s senior deputy governor, Destry Damayanti, were floated as possible successors to Perry.
