The Minister of Finance, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, revealed his strategy for boosting Indonesia’s economy. This approach aligns with the views of British economist Roger Farmer, as outlined in his book The Macroeconomics of Self-fulfilling Prophecies.

In the book, Purbaya explained, expectations are highlighted as a key factor that influences the direction of economic growth. Positive expectations can encourage business activity and household spending, thereby driving the economy forward.

“So he says this: expectations can influence the economy. If you create positive expectations, there is a strong likelihood that the economy will grow positively,” Purbaya stated at the Ecoverse event held at the Westin Hotel, South Jakarta, on Thursday (Nov 20, 2025).

With this understanding, Purbaya has been working to build positive expectations among market participants. He began doing so shortly after being officially appointed as Minister of Finance by President Prabowo Subianto a few months earlier.

“So when I was given the position of Finance Minister given the economic conditions at that time, I applied that policy framework. It wasn’t just talking for the sake of talking — the first thing I did was build expectations. How? I projected confidence. I acted smart. Well, being confident and smart is actually true anyway. So it fits. I said, don’t be afraid. We can achieve better growth,” he explained.

These expectations were then supported with several policy measures he introduced, including injecting Rp 200 trillion into state-owned banks. According to him, this injection helped improve economic conditions.

“After that, I monitored whether there were signs of improvement in the economy. And there were. Sales increased, retail activity picked up, markets became more active, and banks resumed lending,” he said.

“I added another Rp 200 trillion. What happened next? I’m an economist who likes to blend various tools. Fiscal, monetary — I use all of them. The main goal is to maximize economic growth. What I aim to ensure is that fiscal policy works, monetary policy works, and the real sector moves forward,” he concluded.