Sri Mulyani

Sri Mulyani
Official portrait, 2021
26th Minister of Finance
Assumed office
27 July 2016
PresidentJoko Widodo
Prabowo Subianto
Preceded byBambang Brodjonegoro
In office
7 December 2005 – 20 May 2010
PresidentSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Preceded byJusuf Anwar
Succeeded byAgus Martowardojo
1st Vice Head of National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia Steering Committee
Assumed office
1 September 2021
PresidentJoko Widodo
Managing Director of the World Bank Group
In office
1 June 2010 – 27 July 2016
PresidentRobert Zoellick
Jim Yong Kim
Preceded byJuan José Daboub
Succeeded byKyle Peters (Acting)
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs
Acting
In office
13 June 2008 – 20 October 2009
PresidentSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Preceded byBoediono
Succeeded byHatta Rajasa
Minister of National Development Planning
In office
21 October 2004 – 5 December 2005
PresidentSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Preceded byKwik Kian Gie
Succeeded byPaskah Suzetta
Personal details
Born
Sri Mulyani Indrawati

(1962-08-26) 26 August 1962 (age 62)
Tanjung Karang
(now Bandar Lampung), Indonesia
Political partyIndependent
Spouse
Tonny Sumartono
(m. 1988)
EducationUniversity of Indonesia (BEcon)
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (MSc, PhD)
Signature

Sri Mulyani Indrawati (born 26 August 1962) is an Indonesian economist who currently serves as the Indonesian Minister of Finance. She has held this post since 2016, previously serving in the same post from 2005 to 2010. In June 2010 she was appointed as managing director of the World Bank Group and resigned as Minister of Finance. On 20 October 2024, Sri Mulyani was reappointed as Minister of Finance by President Prabowo Subianto for a 3rd consecutive term.[1]

As finance minister from 2005 to 2010, Sri Mulyani was known as a tough reformist[2][3] and was largely credited with strengthening Indonesia's economy, increasing investments, bailout and steering Southeast Asia's largest economy through the 2007–10 financial crisis.[4][5] However, Sri Mulyani was widely criticized during the Bank Century scandal in 2008 when she supported the financial bail out of 6,7 trillion rupiahs, and she was later summoned to the court as a witness in 2014.[6] [7] In the same year, she was ranked as the 38th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.[8] She was again ranked 47th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2023.[9]

Early life

Sri Mulyani was born in Tanjung Karang (now called Bandar Lampung) in Lampung, Sumatra, on 26 August 1962. She is the seventh child of university lecturers Prof. Satmoko and Retno Sriningsih.[10] Her brothers were Agus Purwadianto, Nanang Untung Cahyono, Nunung Teguh Trianung, and Soetopo Patria Jati.[11] Her sisters were Asri Purwanti, Nining Triastuti Soesilo, Atik Umiatun Hayati, Sri Harsi Teteki, and Retno Wahyuningsih.[11]

She obtained her degree from the University of Indonesia in 1986. Sri Mulyani received her master's and doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1992. In 2001, Mulyani left for Atlanta, Georgia, to serve as a consultant with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for programs to strengthen Indonesia's autonomy. She also lectured on the Indonesian economy as a visiting professor at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University.[12] From 2002 to 2004 she was an executive director on the board of the International Monetary Fund representing 12 economies in Southeast Asia.

She is married to economist Tonny Sumartono in 1988, with whom she has three children.[13][14][15] She is a professional economist and has no political affiliation.[16]

As finance minister

Sri Mulyani was selected as Indonesian Finance Minister in 2005 by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. One of her first acts was to fire corrupt tax and customs officers in the department. She successfully tackled corruption and initiated reforms in Indonesia's tax and customs office[5][17] and developed a reputation for integrity.[18] She succeeded in increasing direct investment in Indonesia. In 2004, the year President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office, Indonesia received $4.6 billion in foreign direct investment. The next year, it attracted $8.9 billion.[19]

In 2006, just one year after being selected, she was named Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year by Euromoney magazine.[20]

During her tenure in 2007, Indonesia recorded 6.6% economic growth, its highest rate since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. However, growth was down in 2008 to 6%[5] due to the global economic slowdown. In July 2008, Sri Mulyani Indrawati was inaugurated as the Coordinating Minister for the economy, replacing Boediono, who was to head Indonesia's central bank.[21]

In August 2008, Mulyani was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 23rd most powerful woman in the world[22] and the most powerful woman in Indonesia. During her tenure as Finance Minister, the country's foreign exchange reserves reached an all-time high of $50 billion.[22] She oversaw a reduction in public debt to about 30% of gross domestic product from 60%,[5] making it easier for Indonesia to sell debt to foreign institutional investors. She also revised incentive structures for civil servants in her ministry and began paying higher salaries to tax officials deemed to be "clean" so they would have less temptation to accept bribes.[23]

In 2007 and 2008, Emerging Markets newspaper selected Sri Mulyani as Asia's Finance Minister of The Year.[24][25]

Sri Mulyani as managing director of the World Bank Group (2010)

After Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was re-elected in 2009, she was re-appointed in her post of Finance Minister. In 2009 the Indonesian economy grew by 4.5% while many parts of the world were in recession. Indonesia was one of just three major emerging economies to grow faster than 4% in 2009. The other two were China and India.[5] Under her supervision, the government managed to increase the number of income taxpayers from 4.35 million in 2005 to nearly 16 million individuals in 2010, and tax receipts grew by around 20% each year to more than Rp 600 trillion in 2010.[26]

In 2020, she made controversy by releasing a global bond series with a 50-year tenor, or the longest loan offered in Indonesian history.[27]

In 2021, after the enactment of Presidential Decree No. 78/2021, she became one of the Vice Heads of the National Research and Innovation Agency Steering Committee, together with Suharso Monoarfa.[28]

She currently represents the Ministry of Finance as a member of the World Bank Group's Identification for Development (ID4D) High-Level Advisory Council.[29]

On 20 October 2024, Sri Mulyani was reappointed as Minister of Finance by President Prabowo Subianto for 3rd consecutive term.[30]

Alleged hacking by Australian intelligence

In November 2013, British newspaper The Guardian published articles based on leaks by the American whistleblower Edward Snowden that showed Australian intelligence had hacked into the mobile phones of top Indonesian leaders in 2009. This included Sri Mulyani, who at that time was the minister of finance.[31] Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott defended it by saying that the activities were not so much "spying" as "research" and that its intention would always be to use any information "for good".

Move to the World Bank

On 5 May 2010, Mulyani was appointed as one of three managing directors of the World Bank Group.[32][33] She replaced Juan Jose Daboub, who completed his four-year term on June 30, overseeing 74 nations in Latin America, the Caribbean, East Asia and Pacific, Middle East and North Africa.[34]

Her resignation was viewed negatively and caused financial turmoil in Indonesia, with the stock exchange closing down 3.8% after the news, amid a broad selloff in Asia, while the Indonesian rupiah fell nearly 1% against the dollar.[23] The drop in Indonesian stock exchange was the sharpest in 17 months.[35] The move was described as "Indonesia's loss, and the World's gain".[36][37][38]

There was widespread speculation that her resignation was due to political pressure,[16][39][40] especially from powerful tycoon and chairman of Golkar Party, Aburizal Bakrie.[41][42] Bakrie was known to have enmity toward Mulyani[43] due to her investigation into tax fraud in the Bakrie Group, her refusal to prop up Bakrie's coal interests using government funds,[44] and her refusal to declare the Sidoarjo mud flow, which was caused by drilling by Bakrie's company,[45] as a "natural disaster".

On 20 May, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono named as her replacement Agus Martowardojo, CEO of Bank Mandiri, the largest bank in Indonesia.[46]

In 2014, she was ranked as the 38th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.[8]

Bank Century bailout

Before her first resignation in 2010, the Legislature, spearheaded by Golkar Party,[47][48][49] accused Sri Mulyani of a crime in the bailout of medium-scale Bank Century in 2008. Critics of the bailout claimed it was done without legal authority and without proving a capital injection was needed to prevent a run on other banks. The bailout cost the state close to 6.7 trillion rupiah ($710 million).[50] Sri Mulyani defended the bailout as necessary given the uncertainties in the global economy at the time and denied any wrongdoing.[23]

Criticism on Sri Mulyani's policy also came from then-vice president Jusuf Kalla. He denied claims by former Bank Indonesia officials that if the lender had been allowed to fail, there would have been a systemic impact on the country's banking system and economy.[51]

Furthermore, all nine factions in the House of Representatives special committee agreed that there were suspicious and possibly fraudulent transactions and evidence of money laundering during the bailout period beginning in November 2008. They all then said they lacked the expertise to do more and called on the Indonesian National Police (Polri) and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to take over.[52]

Honours

References

  1. ^ Harsono, Norman (October 20, 2024). "Sri Mulyani reappointed in new Indonesia Cabinet". Bloomberg. Jakarta.
  2. ^ "Editorial: The Indonesian 'tragedy'". The Jakarta Post. Jakarta. May 5, 2010. Archived from the original on May 10, 2010.
  3. ^ Colebatch, Tim (August 5, 2008). "Asia's shining example". The Age (Australia).
  4. ^ "Indonesia finance minister resigns for World Bank post". BBC News. May 5, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e Honorine, Solenn; George Wehrfritz (January 10, 2009). "As Good As It Gets". Newsweek.
  6. ^ "Sri Mulyani Jadi Saksi Century, Tipikor Dijaga Ketat". medcom.id. 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009.
  7. ^ "Sri Mulyani bersaksi pada sidang Bank Century". BBC. 2 May 2014.
  8. ^ a b "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  9. ^ "World's 100 Most Powerful Women - 2023". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-09-23.
  10. ^ Administrator (2008-10-13). "Meninggal Profesor Dr Retno Sri Ningsih Satmoko". Tempo (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  11. ^ a b Okezone (2023-06-02). "Siapa Saja Keluarga Kandung Sri Mulyani? Menkeu Srikandi Jokowi : Okezone Economy". economy.okezone.com/ (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  12. ^ "Who's Who". The Jakarta Post. Jakarta. Archived from the original on February 24, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  13. ^ "Sri Mulyani Ekonom Pasar Yang Kian Mapan". Berita Sore. October 22, 2009.
  14. ^ "Keluarga Menkeu Sri Mulyani di Tengah Terpaan Kasus Century". Jawa Pos. Surabaya. December 15, 2009. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  15. ^ "Mengenal Sosok Tonny Sumartono, Suami Sri Mulyani yang Jarang Tersorot". liputan6.com (in Indonesian). 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  16. ^ a b Allard, Tom (May 6, 2010). "Indonesia reels from corruption fighter's departure for World Bank". Sydney Morning Herald.
  17. ^ Budi, Chandra (May 6, 2010). "Sri Mulyani dan Modernisasi Pajak". Jawa Pos. Surabaya. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016.
  18. ^ "United Indonesia Cabinet 2009–2014". The Jakarta Post. Jakarta. 2009-10-22. p. 3.
  19. ^ "A Reformer Leaves Jakarta". Wall Street Journal. May 13, 2010.
  20. ^ Leahy, Christ (September 2006). "Minister of Finance of the year 2006: Dr Sri Mulyani Indrawati". Euromoney.
  21. ^ "Sri Mulyani named coordinating minister". The Jakarta Post. Jakarta. July 6, 2008.
  22. ^ a b "The 100 Most Powerful Women – #23 Sri Mulyani Indrawati". Forbes. August 27, 2008.
  23. ^ a b c Barta, Patrick (May 6, 2010). "Reformer Resigns, Rattling Indonesia". Wall Street Journal.
  24. ^ "Mulyani, Asia's best finance minister two years in a row". The Jakarta Post. Jakarta. October 14, 2009. Archived from the original on March 25, 2010.
  25. ^ Parson, Nick (October 10, 2008). "Finance Minister of The Year, Asia 2008". Emerging Markets. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.
  26. ^ Bayuni, Endy M. (May 14, 2010). "Commentary: Wanted: Big Foot for finance minister". The Jakarta Post. Jakarta.
  27. ^ "Pertama dalam Sejarah Sri Mulyani Terbitkan Surat Utang 50 Tahun". VIVA. 27 March 2009.
  28. ^ CNN Indonesia (2021-09-02). "Jokowi Teken Perpres Baru BRIN, Kewenangan Megawati Bertambah". nasional (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-09-02. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  29. ^ "Who is Involved". Identification for Development. Archived from the original on 2023-06-08. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  30. ^ Harsono, Norman (October 20, 2024). "Sri Mulyani reappointed in new Indonesia Cabinet". Bloomberg. Jakarta.
  31. ^ "Revealed: Australia tried to monitor Indonesian president's phone", The Guardian, 18 November 2013
  32. ^ Unditu, Aloysius; Sandrine Rastello (May 5, 2010). "Indonesia's Sri Mulyani Given Top World Bank Role". BusinessWeek. With assistance from Brendan Murray in Washington, Berni Moestafa, Achmad Sukarsono, Novrida Manurung and Greg Ahlstrand in Jakarta, Jonathan Burgos in Singapore. Archived from the original on 6 May 2010.
  33. ^ Mealey, Elizabeth; Carl Hanlon (May 4, 2010). "World Bank Group President Zoellick Appoints Indonesian Finance Minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, as Managing Director". World Bank Group – Press Release.
  34. ^ "World Bank appoints Sri Mulyani managing director". The Jakarta Post. Jakarta. May 5, 2010. Archived from the original on May 8, 2010.
  35. ^ Moestafa, Berni (May 5, 2010). "Indonesia Stocks Slump Most in 17 Months as Minister Resigns". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012.
  36. ^ "Editorial: Indonesia's Loss, the World Bank's Gain". The Jakarta Globe. May 5, 2010. Archived from the original on May 8, 2010.
  37. ^ Rieffel, Lex (May 13, 2010). "Sri Mulyani: Indonesia's Loss, the World's Gain". The Brookings Institution. Archived from the original on May 20, 2010.
  38. ^ McBeth, John (May 8, 2010). "Sri Mulyani: World's gain, Jakarta's loss". Asia News Network.
  39. ^ Suharmoko, Aditya (May 5, 2010). "Politics makes Mulyani move". The Jakarta Post. Jakarta. Archived from the original on May 16, 2010.
  40. ^ Siahaan, Armando; Irvan Tisnabudi; Anita Rachman (May 21, 2010). "Indonesia's Ruthless Politics Dog Sri Mulyani to End". Jakarta Globe. Jakarta. Archived from the original on May 22, 2010.
  41. ^ Witular, Rendi A.; Arghea Desafti Hapsari (May 5, 2010). "SBY political deal may be behind Mulyani's exit". The Jakarta Post. Jakarta. Archived from the original on May 9, 2010.
  42. ^ Gelling, Peter (March 2, 2010). "Fight Erupts Over Inquiry Into Jakarta Bank Bailout". The New York Times.
  43. ^ "Indonesia Loses Its Stellar Reformer". www.asiasentinel.com. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  44. ^ Allard, Tom (May 6, 2010). "Indonesia reels from corruption fighter's departure for World Bank". Sidney Morning Herald.
  45. ^ Sanders, Robert (Feb 11, 2010). "Strongest evidence to date links exploration well to Lusi mud volcano". Berkeley Research.
  46. ^ "President names Agus Martowardojo new finance minister". The Jakarta Post. Jakarta. January 9, 2010. Archived from the original on March 5, 2011.
  47. ^ "Golkar-PKS Tolak Selamatkan Boediono-Sri Mulyani". Jawa Pos. Surabaya. February 10, 2010. Archived from the original on February 23, 2010.
  48. ^ "Golkar-PDIP Serukan Sri Mulyani di Nonaktifkan". Jawa Pos. Surabaya. April 1, 2010. Archived from the original on April 4, 2010.
  49. ^ "Pernyataan Sri Mulyani di Wall Street Journal Lecehkan Pansus". Jawa Pos. Surabaya. December 11, 2009. Archived from the original on December 14, 2009.
  50. ^ "KPK Investigate Two of Nine Criminal Indications on Bank Century Case". Hukumonline English. November 29, 2010. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
  51. ^ "Ex-Indonesian Vice President Kalla Calls Century Scandal 'Robbery'". The Jakarta Globe. Jakarta. May 19, 2010. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013.
  52. ^ "Suspicion but No Smoking Gun in Bank Century Probe". The Jakarta Globe. Jakarta. February 18, 2010. Archived from the original on June 25, 2012.
  53. ^ https://cdn.setneg.go.id/_multimedia/document/20200107/4404daftar_penerima_bintang_mahaputera_tahun_2004-sekarang.pdf

Additional reading

  • Dadi Purnama Eksan. 2019. Sri Mulyani Indrawati: Putri Indonesia yang Mendunia [Sri Mulyani Indrawati: An International Woman from Indonesia], Jakarta: C-Kilk Media, ISBN 978-602-5992-73-5.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for National Development Planning
2004–2005
Succeeded by
Chair of the National Development Planning Agency
2004–2005
Preceded by Minister of Finance
2005–2010
Succeeded by
Preceded by Coordinating Minister for the Economy
Acting

2008–2009
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Finance
2016–present
Incumbent
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Managing Director of the World Bank Group
2010–2016
Succeeded by