TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said capital market education should start as early as primary school, as part of the efforts to strengthen the capital market by improving public literacy about stocks. 

She retold the story of her introduction to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). According to the State Treasurer, she was introduced to IDX during her college days, similar to the chair of Financial Services Authority (OJK) Mahendra Siregar and Governor of Bank Indonesia Perry Warjiyo.

The minister, however, wants Indonesians to be introduced young to the capital markets, namely in elementary school. She intends for children to get familiarized with the concept and the transactions at an early age.

“Buying and selling stocks must not be taught at college level anymore, but as early as the primary education,” she said at the IDX building on Thursday. “So they can get familiar with the stock exchange.”

Sri Mulyani also noted that improving public literacy about the capital market will involve various parties, as the concept must be incorporated into the school curriculum. “How to deliver the concept and how to get the students used to transactions,” she said. 

The next obstacle, she said, is to ensure people trade good shares that come from legitimate companies to make sure the public does not feel lied to by the securities they have purchased.

As of December 30, 2024, OJK noted that the Composite Stock Price Index (CSPI) was at 7,079.91 points, or dropped year-to-date by 2.65 percent. However, the market capitalization value reached Rp12.33 trillion, or grew y-t-d by 5.74 percent. Funds raised through public offerings until December 31, 2024, reached Rp259.24 trillion, with 43 new issuers. 

Meanwhile, OJK noted that major achievements occurred in terms of growth in the number of Single Investor Identification (SID), which managed to reach 14.8 million SID, an increase of 22.21 percent y-o-y. The majority of the new investors are those under the age of 40, which amounted to 79 percent of the total SID.

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