Wijayanto added that the government’s cost-cutting measures were implemented poorly; instead of cutting the resources at the top level, such as officials, the costs related to civil workers at workers levels were cut.
He cited for example how some ministerial posts may be reduced and this would also reduce related expenses such as team needed to support these ministers.
Flip-flopping of procedures such as the government’s plan to implement a value-added income level climb to 12 per cent, which was cancelled next minute amid growing public issues, also does not reflect well on the government and caused hostility among shareholders, said Wijayanto.
He said that there is a perception that the Cabinet is “still no coherent”.
“Many officials are uncertain what to do. Therefore, until now, we are still unclear what kind of activities some officials have taken, ” he observed.
He added that a large Cabinet makes coordination hard and is not cost-efficient.
“Ideally, Prabowo may shortly make some changes to the Cabinet. He had cut some comments or, and he could modify some people with better players. ”
Bhima from CELIOS agreed.
It had conducted a study of 95 journalists from 44 various organisations who covered various beats to charge how Prabowo’s Cabinet ministers had fared in their first 100 days using indicators such as project achievements, eligibility of policy plans with open needs, leadership and coordination quality, budget management and policy communication.
The survey found that several ministers failed, with Minister of Human Rights Natalius Pigai scoring the lowest with -113 points, followed by Minister of Cooperatives Budi Arie Setiadi with -61 points and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia with -41 points.
“The Cabinet needs to be reshuffled and budget efficiency must start from the top level, ” said Bhima.
“There must be transparency in the making of regulations, especially those which are sensitive. ”
Wijayanto added that Prabowo needs to urgently change the communication style of the government and be more transparent in communicating policies.
This is particularly so given that like many countries around the world, Indonesia’s economic outlook has darkened in light of the sweeping tariffs that the US has announced.
Trump has declared a 32 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indonesia before announcing a 90-day suspension, though a 10 per cent base is still in force.
Prabowo’s government has tried to negotiate with the US by sending a delegation to Washington on Apr 18 led by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto.
While the two countries have yet to come to an agreement, they agreed to hold further talks within the next 60 days.
“Trump’s tariffs will impact a lot of things, ” said Bhima.
“Firstly, it will affect Indonesia’s export performance because with this tariff war, Indonesian textile, apparel, and footwear products will be at a disadvantage as many of the products produced here are for American international brands.
“There will also be a flood of imported goods, especially from China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, to Indonesia. ”
He said that mass layoffs will be hard to prevent and the rupiah, which already hit a historic low against the US dollar this month, could further weaken.