Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s reappointment as finance minister a boost for Indonesia's Islamic economy – official
Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Tuesday she was asked by President Joko Widodo to remain in her position as finance minister in the new cabinet.
President Jokowi is forming his new cabinet for his second term in office after being sworn in on October 20.
“The President has assigned me to remain finance minister and to use fiscal policy to help all related ministers improve economic resilience,” she told reporters after meeting the president at the state palace on Tuesday.
The re-appointment has not been officially announced by President Jokowi but the impending move is seen as a boost for the Islamic economy.
“We are pleased to hear [this news], more so because Sri Mulyani was in August appointed chairperson of the Indonesian Association of Islamic Economists (Ikatan Ahli Ekonomi Islam Indonesia, IAEI),” Dr Sutan Emir Hidayat, director of education and research of the National Islamic Finance Committee (KNKS) told Salaam Gateway.
“We are expecting her to place more attention and introduce more initiatives related to the development of the Islamic economy, as well as more policies to support the halal industry,” said Dr Sutan.
“For Islamic finance, we are expecting more sukuk to be used as an instrument to finance development in Indonesia and support the halal industry,” he added.
Sri Mulyani first appeared on the global scene in 2002 as an Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund then headed home two years later to become state minister and chair of the National Development Planning Agency.
She was promoted to finance minister in 2005 during the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. She then joined the World Bank in 2010 as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer. In that role, she was the most senior woman at the Bank at the time. She returned home in July 2016 for her second stint as Indonesia’s finance minister.
President Jokowi is widely expected to announce the full cabinet line-up on Wednesday. On Monday, Nadiem Makarim, the chief executive of tech start-up Gojek, was among those confirming they had been asked to join the new cabinet.
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