Economics 28 July 2016 Indonesia's cabinet reshuffle Su Sian Lim Jokowi gets the balance right Economist The Hongkong and Shanghai It's been some months in the making, but President Jokowi yesterday finally Banking Corporation Limited, announced his second cabinet reshuffle in less than two years. Some of the Singapore Branch +65 6658 8783 positive take-aways: for one, it is clear from the realignment that President
[email protected] Jokowi's political clout has increased to the extent that he can now appoint reformists such as former finance minister Sri Mulyani; in short, it is a clear show View HSBC Global Research at: of political strength. Second, Sri Mulyani's track record of being tough on tax http://www.research.hsbc.com evaders and corruption improves the chances that the tax amnesty program and other key fiscal reforms (such as the abolition of fuel subsidies) will succeed or be Issuer of report The Hongkong and Shanghai adhered to. Third, post-reshuffle we come away with the general impression that Banking Corporation Limited, the right people have been installed in the right posts. President Jokowi has taken Singapore Branch MCI (P) 094/06/2016 this opportunity to balance political interests, yet the quality of the cabinet is even MCI (P) 085/06/2016 better than before, and we think this bodes well for the reform agenda and the MICA (P) 021/01/2016 country's longer-term prospects. Disclosures & Disclaimer This report must be read with the disclosures and the analyst certifications in the Disclosure A boost to the reform agenda appendix, and with the Disclaimer, which forms part of it Just when we thought the positive flow of news out of Indonesia was about to peter out, President Jokowi yesterday announced that he had reshuffled thirteen of the 34 posts in his cabinet.