Holiday Ayo - Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) Mahendra Siregar said that the challenges for the Indonesian economy and financial services sector in 2025 will still be quite large. 

Uncertainty and divergence in the world economy remain a looming issue this year.

“It is estimated that the challenges and uncertainties that will be faced in 2025 will not be any easier," said Mahendra at the 2025 Financial Services Industry Annual Meeting (PTIJK), Jakarta, Tuesday, February 11 2025.

This is because a number of institutions project global economic growth to increase in a limited way.

Normalization of interest rate policies in the United States (US) and several other major countries is expected to continue but at a slower pace.

On the other hand, divergence in economic recovery among industrial countries has the potential to result in differences in monetary policy from various global monetary authorities which will affect capital flow and the value of financial assets.

"The complexity of economic recovery is expected to increase in line with dynamic geopolitical and geoeconomic developments," said Mahendra.

In addition, trade policies that are determined more by political aspects than economic aspects have the potential to increase the fragmentation of global trade and reduce trade volume itself.

Likewise, policy divergence and the application of international standards in the financial sector are starting to occur between countries, which can also create differences in the competitiveness of the financial sector.
On the domestic side, said Mahendra,

Indonesia is faced with structural issues such as the need to increase formal sector employment again and accelerate the recovery of people's purchasing power, especially for the lower middle class whose recovery is still stalled. 

“In the midst of these downside risks, transformative steps are needed to achieve the expected growth targets," explained Mahendra. 

“Therefore, we welcome the various priority programs initiated by the government to encourage growth to a higher level and achieve the vision of a Golden Indonesia," he continued.