Ousted Indonesia finance minister says he was 'upset', but half expected removal
"Last night, going to sleep was difficult. I was upset, but now it's not too bad," Purbaya told reporters on Tuesday (Sep 15) after a handover ceremony at the finance ministry.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has replaced Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa with Suahasil Nazara. According to Purbaya, he had no policy differences with the president but blamed his ouster partly on disagreements with other officials. He said he was upset to be removed but had half expected the decision.
Purbaya found out about his termination in a phone call with the president's spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi on Monday. His replacement, Suahasil Nazara, was sworn in the same day. The move surprised markets and comes as Indonesia's sovereign ratings are maintained as investment-grade by Moody's and Fitch, but with a "Negative" outlook.
The change in leadership has been seen as an attempt to restore trust in fiscal policies. Purbaya had marked one year as finance minister just days before his sacking. He expressed relief after initially being upset, saying he can now "sleep soundly".
Brief written by urgent.news from Asia Times, Free Malaysia Today — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Indonesia’s ousted finance minister ‘upset’ but half-expected removal freemalaysiatoday.com
- Changing the finance minister is easier than making Indonesia investable asiatimes.com
