Jakarta, 29 January 2026 — Prasasti Center for Policy Studies (Prasasti) held the Prasasti Economic Forum 2026 as a strategic dialogue platform to discuss the direction of Indonesia’s economy amid increasingly complex global dynamics. The forum served as an important momentum to deepen discussions on the country’s structural economic challenges, while also formulating strategic steps toward more sustainable growth.
At the forum, Burhanuddin Abdullah, Member of the Board of Advisors of Prasasti, emphasized that Indonesia’s current economic challenges are not merely cyclical in nature, but structural. Burhan acknowledged Indonesia’s achievement in maintaining economic growth at around 5 percent consistently for more than a decade. However, this achievement also reflects the limited capacity of the national economy to accelerate to a higher growth trajectory.
“Indonesia’s economy is showing symptoms of inertia—a tendency to remain within existing patterns. We have succeeded in maintaining stability, but we have not been strong enough to drive a leap in productivity. Our challenge is not a lack of growth, but how to break free from patterns that make it difficult to accelerate growth,” said Burhanuddin.
According to him, overcoming this inertia requires policy courage, stronger institutions, and improved cross-sector coordination. Trust in institutions and consistency in policy direction are critical foundations for encouraging investment, innovation, and productive risk-taking.
In line with this perspective, Prasasti’s Executive Director, Nila Marita, underscored Prasasti’s role as a collaborative platform that brings together perspectives from government, the business community, academia, and society to support inclusive and forward-looking public policymaking.
“As a think tank, Prasasti adheres to three core approaches: data-driven recommendations, collaboration-based processes, and solution-oriented outcomes. Through this forum, we aim to build a shared understanding of Indonesia’s economic challenges and opportunities, while encouraging an exchange of ideas that is not only constructive, but also applicable,” said Nila.
On the same occasion, Prasasti’s Research Director, Gundy Cahyadi, conveyed that Prasasti projects Indonesia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2026 to be in the range of 5.0–5.3 percent.
This projection is supported by several key factors. First, domestic consumption is expected to show improvement along with the stabilization of consumer confidence, although room for acceleration remains limited. Second, the quality and effectiveness of fiscal execution will be a key determinant, especially amid relatively constrained state revenue space. Third, exchange rate dynamics, particularly the rupiah, need to be carefully monitored.
“A weaker rupiah on one hand may provide a boost to export performance, but at the same time it could restrain investment, especially in sectors that rely heavily on imported capital goods,” explained Gundy.
In this context, Prasasti emphasized the importance of strengthening investment as a medium- and long-term growth engine, alongside accelerating structural transformation to enhance efficiency and productivity in the national economy.
In closing, Prasasti reaffirmed its commitment to continuously opening space for cross-sector collaboration in support of data-driven and solution-oriented economic policymaking. Through this forum, Prasasti hopes to contribute to navigating Indonesia’s economic direction toward more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable growth.
The Prasasti Economic Forum 2026 was supported by PT Astra International Tbk. as Keystone Partner; TBS, PT Triputra Agro Persada Tbk., and PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk. as Lead Partners; as well as PT Agung Podomoro Land Tbk. and PT Bank Mandiri Tbk. as Supporting Partners. (*)