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Technocrat 'ideal' to lead Finance Ministry under next regime, experts say
Some names have been floating around in cyberspace as possible successors to incumbent Sri Mulyani, who helped the country navigate through the 2008 global recession as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, though a couple of experts seem to concur that a technocrat would be "ideal".
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Finance Minister Sri Mulyani spoke to the audience during the opening of 12th Annual International Forum on Economic Development and Public Policy (AIFED) in Grand Hyatt, Nusa Dua, Bali, on December 6, 2023. The event with the theme “Fragmented World: Recalibrating Development Strategies” is held by the ministry’s Fiscal Policy Agency to dig topics including geopolitics, climate crisis, technology development and its implications on global geoeconomic dynamics. (Finance Ministry/-)
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peculation has arisen over the finance minister of the next government after the campaign team of Prabowo Subianto has signaled it does not plan to retain Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and experts have cautioned care in choosing her successor because of the sensitivity of the matter for both investors and the market.
Sri Mulyani has borne the fiscal torch under two different presidents, helping the country to navigate the global recession in 2008 as well as the pandemic-induced global economic downturn in 2020-2023.
That is about to change, as fellow cabinet member Defense Minister Prabowo looks set to succeed President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo after gaining nearly 60 percent of the vote, according to the quick count of several credible pollsters.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) is slated to announce the official results of the 2024 general election on March 20.
Read also: ‘Jokowi effect’ looms large over Prabowo election victory
Drajad Wibowo, a National Mandate Party politician who is on Prabowo’s campaign team, indicated that the two prominent ministers were on “different wavelengths” as regards development and economic policies.
Asked whether Sri Mulyani’s chance of remaining in the cabinet was closed, Drajad told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday “never say never”, because “Indonesian politics is unique”, though he added that no talks about the matter had taken place so far.
