Symbolic imageIndonesia to shut more than 750 state firms
President Prabowo Subianto said on Friday that Indonesia will close more than 750 of its 1,074 state companies by the end of 2026, calling it perhaps the world's largest corporate restructuring.
In his state of the nation address on Friday, 14 August, Prabowo said the full tally emerged only after the sovereign fund Danantara was created last year: he had assumed there were 300 or 400 state firms. Many were "unproductive", reporting losses while claiming profits that were "simply invented", he said. Le Monde reports 290 are already closed and about 300 are to remain on 31 December, with some 50 trillion rupiah saved in running costs against a target of over 70 trillion this year.
A special court for 30 years of state business
Prabowo said an ad hoc tribunal may examine how state companies and their boards were run over the past three decades, and asked lawmakers to consider an amnesty for those who repent. Le Monde notes corruption has become a rallying cry at cost-of-living protests.
Budget targets and a commodity exchange
Nikkei Asia reports Prabowo wants state revenue up nearly 7 percent to 3,426 trillion rupiah (192 billion dollars) next year, with 6 percent growth and a smaller deficit; second-quarter GDP was 5.3 percent. Bloomberg reports he also plans a national commodity exchange to control prices.
Other opinions
Bloomberg's brief items frame the day through markets, calling miners and EV makers winners of the 2027 budget; Le Monde leads on corruption.