Indonesian President Nominates Destry Damayanti as Central Bank Governor after Warjiyo's Resignation
- President Prabowo Subianto nominated acting central bank governor Destry Damayanti as the sole candidate for the top job
- Destry's nomination came weeks after Perry Warjiyo's abrupt resignation sparked concerns about Bank Indonesia's independence
- Parliament, currently in recess, will make the final decision on confirming the 62-year-old economist as governor
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Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has put forward Destry Damayanti as his only candidate to lead Bank Indonesia on a permanent basis, following the surprise exit of former governor Perry Warjiyo last month.
Presidential spokesman Prasetyo Hadi confirmed the nomination on Monday in Jakarta. "There is only one name, it is Destry Damayanti," he told reporters.
Source: Getty Images
The final decision rests with parliament, which is currently on recess, and the appointment is being closely tracked by financial markets.
According to Bloomberg, Destry, 62, has served as a deputy governor of the central bank since 2019 and stepped into the acting governor role after Perry's departure in late July. Perry's resignation marked the second major economic policymaker to leave since Prabowo assumed the presidency in October 2024.
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Concerns over Central bank independence
The exit triggered widespread speculation that Perry had been pressured to align monetary policy more firmly with the government's push for economic growth. Analysts at Capital Economics and other observers flagged that concern at the time, and said that whoever was chosen as his replacement would be scrutinised for signs of political influence over the institution.
Prabowo's nephew Thomas Djiwandono, who also serves as a deputy governor at Bank Indonesia, had been mentioned as a possible contender before Destry emerged as the sole nominee.
Worries about the bank's autonomy were further deepened by a bill passed in July that handed parliament new powers to evaluate Bank Indonesia's performance and assigned it partial responsibility for driving economic growth, one of Prabowo's central policy priorities.
Rupiah and markets under pressure
Perry's resignation came at a difficult moment for Indonesia's economy. The rupiah has shed roughly seven per cent of its value since conflict broke out in the Middle East in February, making it Asia's worst-performing currency according to Bloomberg News, with surging energy costs adding to the pressure. The country's stock market has also fallen sharply.
At his final policy meeting in late July, Perry's board held the benchmark interest rate at 5.75 per cent, following cumulative increases of 100 basis points earlier in the year, a string of hikes that Capital Economics suggested likely frustrated the government given its growth ambitions.
Bank Indonesia's board of governors, made up of a governor and several deputies, is responsible for setting monetary policy and interest rates.
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Source: Legit.ng
