Jakarta. Sovereign wealth fund Danantara said Tuesday that Indonesia would beef up communication ahead of assessments by rating agencies Fitch and S&P.

Moody’s warning has set another challenge to the country’s stock market. The agency has kept Indonesia’s sovereign rating at Baa2, but cut the outlook from “stable” to “negative”. As the clock ticks for more reviews, the homework lies in fixing the communications, according to Danantara Chief Investment Officer Pandu Sjahrir.

“We have Fitch coming next month, as well as S&P. Our job is to be able to communicate well. We have such wonderful stories to tell. This is one of the weaknesses … We don’t go outside and tell our stories,” Pandu said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

“This is what we need to do: communicate, communicate, and communicate,” Pandu said.

To Pandu, Indonesia has “such wonderful stories to tell” — be it its growth, low inflation, or the war against corruption. Former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was big on the physical infrastructure development of roads, bridges, and all. His successor, Prabowo Subianto, zeroes in on the human capital side, citing the nationwide meal rollout meant to improve students’ nutritional intake.

“He [Prabowo] is focusing on the free meal program and education. Politically, it may not be popular, but this will give dividends 10-15 years from now. Investing in human capital is the most important thing to grow into the world’s 5th largest economy,” Pandu said.

“Whichever institution, we are one. We want to build Indonesia and communicate the country’s great stories.”

S&P’s latest credit rating on Indonesia stands at “BBB”. Such a rating reflects adequate capacity to meet financial commitments, but is subject to adverse economic conditions. S&P rates Indonesia with a “stable” outlook. Fitch Ratings gave a similar assessment. Neither agency has made its review this year.

On the downgrade, Moody’s had faulted declining clarity and coherence in policymaking. This had caused volatility in equity and foreign-exchange markets. The agency also flagged concerns over the less effective policy communication from authorities. It recently slashed the outlooks for Indonesia’s publicly listed banks, including the lenders under Danone’s wings, such as BNI (IDX: BBNI), BRI (IDX: BBRI), and Mandiri (IDX: BMRI). 

Deputy Finance Minister Juda Agung made a similar warning, saying that all hands must be on deck ahead of reviews by S&P and Fitch.

“We don’t have much time. We must work on it as soon as possible, namely addressing matters that they will score,” Juda was quoted as saying by news outlet CNBC Indonesia on Tuesday.

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