Jakarta. Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) plunged to its lowest level since March after investors reacted negatively to the government’s planned “single-gate” export policy, with Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa attributing the selloff to market uncertainty over the new export body.

Purbaya said investors were still unclear about the mechanism and actual impact of the proposed export body, prompting panic selling in the market.

“Maybe they still don’t understand the real impact. Usually when there’s uncertainty, people get scared and sell first,” Purbaya said after a coordination meeting at the Economic Affairs Ministry office in Jakarta on Thursday.

Despite the sharp decline, Purbaya said the pressure on the stock market would likely be temporary and argued that investor sentiment could improve once the policy becomes clearer.

“But once they understand the actual impact, prices will rise again,” he said.

Purbaya said one of the key objectives of the export body is to close loopholes related to under-invoicing in export activities, a practice where exporters report lower export values than the actual transaction amount.

He said the policy would make company revenues more transparent and fully reflected in financial statements, particularly benefiting listed exporters and commodity firms.

“With the export body, under-invoicing loopholes will be closed,” Purbaya said.

“Company sales should then be reflected more accurately and transparently. That will also benefit the companies themselves,” he added.

Purbaya even projected that the policy could eventually lift the valuation of publicly listed companies.

“So listed companies could effectively gain double benefits from this. Over time, valuations of companies on the stock exchange should increase significantly,” he said.

When asked about the fate of exporters’ existing long-term contracts, Purbaya said the mechanism was still being discussed. He added that the export body would operate independently and coordinate directly with businesses.

“We’ll see later how the export body manages it. It won’t be handled by me directly because it will be an independent company that will likely discuss the mechanism with businesses,” he said.

Pilarmas Investindo Sekuritas said the “single-gate” export policy could hurt trade efficiency and create uncertainty among businesses.

“Although the policy aims to improve trade governance and boost state revenue, the market is still assessing its impact on trade flows and investor interest,” Pilarmas said.

JCI tumbled 223 points, or 3.54%, to 6,094 on Thursday, dragged down partly by concerns surrounding the government’s export oversight plan.

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