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View all search resultsNo time for complacency
This is not a time to let things slide, also because the stable outlook from S&P Global comes with the “expectation that the government continues to view its 3 percent annual deficit ceiling as an important policy anchor.”
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Students eat meals provided under the free nutritious meal program on May 21, 2026, at SD 2 Kendari state elementary school in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi. (Antara/Andry Denisah)
G
overnment officials were quick to take credit for an announcement from S&P Global that merely affirmed the status quo. The agency maintained Indonesia’s sovereign debt rating at BBB with a stable outlook.
Nothing changed for the better or the worse regarding the country’s credit worthiness.
The only reason the news sounded like a victory to some was that it contrasted positively with assessments issued earlier in the year by two other United States-based agencies: Moody’s and Fitch, both of which had downgraded the outlook for Indonesian debt from stable to negative due to growing fiscal uncertainties.
While both had kept their ratings for Indonesia unchanged, the negative outlook means they deem a future rating change to the downside more likely than to the upside.
That warning of sorts still stands, so this is not a time to let things slide, also because the stable outlook from S&P Global comes with the “expectation that the government continues to view its 3 percent annual deficit ceiling as an important policy anchor.”
That said, the latest sovereign rating assessment does acknowledge “that the government has been showing some flexibility in policy implementation in response to adverse industry feedback.”
It is often only after sustained public or private-sector backlash that this administration has proven willing to rethink policy priorities and implementation, rather than inviting feedback and public debate upfront, when formulating new rules and regulations.
