Prabowo mulls over Cabinet reshuffle as Indonesia s economy slows Sources

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto is considering replacing some ministers in his Cabinet in the coming months due to their unsatisfactory performance and amid political pressure from his coalition partners. This comes as Indonesia is set to record lower-than-expected economic growth for the first three months of 2025.

Three senior government officials told The Straits Times that Mr Prabowo’s inner circle has suggested he remove “weak elements” in his six-month-old administration in order to accelerate fulfilling his campaign promises.

The move comes amid concerns over a weakening economy and softer consumer spending, given the slew of populist programmes that require massive funding and declining tax revenues, which have driven the rupiah to its weakest level against the US dollar since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and sent Indonesian stocks tumbling to levels not seen in over a decade.

Mr Prabowo’s pledges include an ambitious target for the country to post annual economic growth of 8 per cent by the time his term ends in 2029. ST understands that internal government growth forecasts for the first quarter of 2025 stand much lower, at between 4.5 per cent and 4.9 per cent. The economy expanded by 5.11 per cent year on year in the first three months of 2024.

Indonesia’s annual growth rate has generally averaged around 5 per cent over the last 10 years.

Indonesia’s national statistics agency will officially announce the first-quarter economic growth figure in the first week of May.

The three government officials, who are not authorised to speak to the media, said Mr Airlangga Hartarto, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, is among those who may be removed from the Cabinet.

“There hasn’t been good teamwork between Airlangga and the ministers he is overseeing,” one source told ST.

Another source said that Mr Airlangga would likely be