TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Prabowo Subianto will establish Gold Bank, also known as bullion banks, as Indonesia currently lacks one. This has resulted in a considerable outflow of Indonesian gold to other countries.

"To date, we don't have a bank for gold. It doesn't exist in Indonesia. Hence, our gold is often mined and flows to other countries," said Prabowo at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Monday, February 17, 2025.

The head of state stated that the Gold Bank will be launched on February 26, 2025. "God willing, we will inaugurate it on February 26," he said.

Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Erick Thohir previously targeted bullion banks to commence operations from this year. He conveyed this during the MINDialogue event at Soehanna Hall, Jakarta, on Thursday, January 9.

According to Minister Erick, PT Bank Syariah Indonesia, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia, and PT Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM) currently work on the licensing.

He stated that the government is facilitating companies wishing to run bullion banks, including private companies. "We encourage all of them, so that their gold reserves do not remain solely with the government but also with the people," he said.

Erick ensured that the gold bank procurement program remains their focus. He believed that Indonesia has been an outstanding gold producer but lacks the storage.

According to Erick, SOEs need to make efforts to speed up downstream processing. "That's why I said we push for downstreaming acceleration. Bullion banks, which we didn't have all these years, we handled it, and it was well received by the Financial Services Authority and others," said Erick.

Dede Leni Mardianti contributed to the writing of this article.

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