Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto wants government-owned banks to have smaller board of commissioners, according to State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir.

Indonesia's state-owned banks include Mandiri, BNI, BRI, and BTN. Each company has its own commissioners. For instance, BNI has a six-member board of commissioners with businessman Omar Sjawaldy Anwar at the helm. The three other banks also have the same number of commissioners. It's also quite common to see cabinet members in such boards. Deputy SOE Minister Kartika Wirjoatmodjo assumes the president commissioner role at BRI. A few months ago, Deputy Housing Minister Fahri Hamzah got appointed as a commissioner at BTN.

Erick recently told the press that Prabowo wanted to have fewer commissioners at such banks. 

"Mr. President wants us to conduct efficiency measures across the board. For instance, we are told to downsize the commissioners at the government-owned banks," Erick said in Jakarta on Monday.

Prabowo has ordered austerity budget across all ministries and government agencies. Many ministries had announced plans to cut non-essential spending. Erick said that state-owned enterprises (SOEs), too, in general would try to do the same by cutting business trip costs.

Erick is planning to meet Rosan Roeslani, who heads the sovereign fund Danantara, soon to discuss the efficiency measures at length. For context, the superholding Danantara now has the assets of all 844 Indonesian SOEs under its wings, including its parent companies, subsidiaries, and sub-subsidiaries.

"I will talk to Mr. Rosan to pinpoint other possible efficiency measures that we can carry out at our SOES," Erick said.

The minister revealed that improving efficiency would be crucial in the face of global economic uncertainties, citing the US-China trade war.

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