Jakarta. American investors are not too worried about Indonesia’s frequent finance minister changes, according to the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), citing that their concerns are more about the policies rather than the individual who is helming the ministry.

President Prabowo Subianto recently picked Suahasil Nazara as his third finance minister in under two years. Suahasil replaced the blunt Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, who had just marked his one year as finance minister. Purbaya took over the ministerial role from the long-serving Sri Mulyani in September 2025. 

The switch at the Finance Ministry — whose decisions can make-or-break a country’s investment climate — is also happening amid Indonesia’s attempt to lure foreign investors, including those from the US. However, USABC executive vice president Marc Mealy admitted that the shake-ups would not discourage American investors.

“Not really. There may be certain types of foreign investors [for whom] uncertainty around the policies of the Finance Ministry might make them reluctant to invest,” Mealy told the press in Jakarta on Wednesday.

However, most corporate investors or those who make direct investments “understand” that changes can happen to the ministers. 

“Unless that also means a big policy change, it would not necessarily mean we no longer want to invest just because the finance minister has changed,” Mealy said.

Government data showed that the US investment inflows into Indonesia totaled $1.7 billion in the first half of 2026. This made the US the country’s fifth-largest foreign investor, trailing behind mainland China ($3.9 billion) and Japan (nearly $1.9 billion). Singapore and Hong Kong topped the rankings by contributing around $8.8 billion and $7.6 billion, respectively. All five made up 77.8% of the foreign investments that Indonesia recorded that period.

Suahasil has only been in the job for about two days, and among his first promises were to maintain a “healthy and credible” budget. Economists expect that Suahasil will not bring radical changes, citing his fiscal expertise and years of experience working at the ministry. 

The Indonesian business lobby group Apindo hopes Suahasil will continue the once Purbaya-led “debottlenecking task force” meant to resolve the investment hurdles. The task force also often invited businesses to talk over the problems.

“There remain many licensing and regulatory issues that we need to resolve together,” Apindo chair Shinta Kamdani said.

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