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View all search resultsPurbaya rules out budget help in resolving Whoosh debt
The finance minister said the state budget should play no role in restructuring the high-speed railway’s credit as the state-owned enterprises involved were managed by state asset fund Danantara.
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An undated photograph shows the interior of a Whoosh train. (KCIC)
F
inance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has ruled out any state budget spending to service the debt incurred in the construction of the Jakarta-Bandung high speed railway, Whoosh.
Purbaya noted that the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) involved in Whoosh were managed by state asset fund Danantara.
“If [the debt] were shouldered by the state budget, that would be rather funny, because the profit goes their way, but the burden comes our way,” Purbaya told reporters in Jakarta on Monday, adding that no one had contacted him about the matter.
Dividends from SOEs, which surpassed Rp 80 trillion (US$4.8 billion) in each of the past two years, used to be transferred directly to the state budget and booked as state revenue.
The dividends are now routed directly to and managed by Danantara, which was launched in early 2025.
Speaking at a separate occasion on Friday, Purbaya said that, if the debt were to be incurred by the state budget, then the arrangement would have to go “all the way”, meaning the SOE dividends would need to be transferred to the state budget like they used to.
“The thing here is, it’s a separation between the private sector and the government. Don’t go to the private sector only when it’s beneficial but to the government when it’s the other way around,” Purbaya said at a media gathering.
