Rich Indonesians wary of Prabowo's policies send wealth overseas

Wealthy Indonesians are shifting hundreds of millions of dollars offshore amid mounting concerns over President Prabowo Subianto's fiscal discipline and the country's economic stability.

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Gold and real estate are two popular safe havens although a third, less traditional pocket has emerged: cryptocurrencies - in particular, Tether Holdings' stable-coin USDT, which is designed to maintain a 1:1 peg to the US dollar. The assets all offer ways for the country's rich to skirt scrutiny in moving large sums of money around.

Bloomberg News spoke to more than a dozen wealth managers, private bankers, advisers and high-net-worth individuals for this story, all of whom asked not to be identified.

One private banker said that several Indonesian clients with a net worth of between US$100 million (S$134 million) and US$400 million have converted up to 10 per cent of their assets into crypto. The shift began in October 2024 when Mr Prabowo came to power, but accelerated substantially after the rupiah plunged in March, the person said.

The outflows from South-east Asia's biggest economy may have contributed to the steep decline in Indonesia's currency. The rupiah on April 9 fell to its lowest in history against the US dollar before rebounding slightly on April 10 as investors priced in the impact of rising trade frictions from US President Donald Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs.

The nation's currency and stock markets are also suffering because of concerns that Mr Prabowo's policy spending spree could eat into the country's fiscal discipline built under previous administrations.

"I've been stepping up my purchase of USDT in recent months," said Mr Chan, a former top executive in his 40s at one of Indonesia's big conglomerates, who asked not to use his full name for fear of government repercussions.