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Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto has fired his finance minister, as he tries to draw a line under days of protests and reinvigorate a struggling economy.
Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who joined the finance ministry in 2005 and was a managing director at the World Bank from 2010 to 2016, was widely respected and viewed as a safe pair of hands. Her removal on Monday came as part of a broader reshuffle that also led to the security minister being replaced.
Prabowo appointed Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, chair of commissioners at the Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corp, as Indrawati’s replacement.
Stocks closed down 1.3 per cent on Monday after the news.
Thousands have taken to Indonesia’s streets in recent weeks in protests triggered by outrage over generous housing allowances for lawmakers. At least eight people were killed, and mobs have set fire to a regional parliament building and looted the finance minister’s home.
At the heart of the demonstrations is financial hardship faced by millions of ordinary Indonesians, who say they have not benefited from the country’s economic growth.
Prabowo won last year’s election in a landslide with vows to boost annual growth to 8 per cent and provide free meals to millions of schoolchildren across the country.
But Indonesia’s economy has weakened. While the south-east Asian country is one of the world’s biggest nickel producers, the sector has failed to create higher-paying jobs.
