Sri Mulyani

Biography

Early life and education

Sri Mulyani was born in Tanjung Karang (now called Bandar Lampung) in Lampung, Sumatra, on 26 August 1962. She is the seventh child of university lecturers professor Satmoko and Retno Sriningsih. Her brothers were Agus Purwadianto, Nanang Untung Cahyono, Nunung Teguh Trianung, and Soetopo Patria Jati. Her sisters were Asri Purwanti, Nining Triastuti Soesilo, Atik Umiatun Hayati, Sri Harsi Teteki, and Retno Wahyuningsih.

Sri Mulyani obtained a BA in Economics from the University of Indonesia in 1986. She then attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she received a MSc in Policy Economics in 1990 and a PhD in economics in 1992. From 2002 to 2004, she was an executive director on the board of the International Monetary Fund representing 12 economies in Southeast Asia.

Career

First term as finance minister (2005)

Sri Mulyani was first appointed Minister of Finance in 2005 by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. One of her first acts was to fire 150 corrupt tax and customs officers in the finance department and penalize another 2,000 officers. She successfully reduced political corruption and initiated reforms in Indonesia's tax and customs office. She also revised incentive structures for civil servants in her ministry and began paying higher salaries to tax officials deemed to be "clean" so they would have less temptation to accept bribes. Indonesia attracted $8.9 billion in foreign direct investment in 2005, Sri Mulyani's first year as finance minister, a significant increase from $4.6 billion in 2004.

In 2006, she was named Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year by Euromoney magazine. In September 2006, Emerging Markets selected Sri Mulyani as the Asia Finance Minister of The Year.

In 2007, Indonesia recorded 6.6% economic growth, its highest rate since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In July 2008, Sri Mulyani was inaugurated as the Coordinating Minister for the economy, replacing Boediono, who was to head Bank Indonesia.

Growth in 2008 was 6% despite the Great Recession. By January 2009, public debt was reduced to 30% of gross domestic product from 100% in 1999, making it easier for Indonesia to sell debt to foreign institutional investors.

Bank Century bailout and criminal accusations (2008)

Golkar, the party that controlled the legislature, accused Mulyani of criminality in the bailout of Bank Century during the 2008 financial crisis. Critics of the bailout claimed it was done without legal authority and without proving that a capital injection was needed to prevent a run on other banks. The bailout cost the state close to 6.7 trillion rupiah ($710 million). Sri Mulyani defended the bailout as necessary and denied any wrongdoing.

Criticism on Sri Mulyani's policy also came from then-Vice President of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla. He denied claims by former Bank Indonesia officials that if the lender had been allowed to fail, there would have been a systemic impact on the country's banking system and economy.

All nine factions in the House of Representatives special committee agreed that there were suspicious and possibly fraudulent transactions and evidence of money laundering as a result of the bailout, alleging that preventing such fraud was the responsibility of the Indonesian National Police and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

After Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was re-elected in the 2009 Indonesian presidential election in July 2009, Sri Mulyani was re-appointed in her post of Finance Minister. In 2009, the Indonesian economy grew by 4.5% despite the Great Recession affecting most of the world economies. Along with India and China, Indonesia was one of just three major emerging economies to grow faster than 4% in 2009.

In May 2014, Sri Mulyani testified at a trial related to the Century Bank bailout, where she reiterated that she believed that the bailout was a good decision.

Resignation and move to the World Bank (2010)

On 5 May 2010, Sri Mulyani was appointed one of three managing directors of the World Bank, replacing Juan Jose Daboub who had stepped down after 4 years of his term on 30 June, responsible to work in 74 countries in South America, Caribbean, Eastern Asia–Pacific, Middle East, and North Africa.

Mulyani resigned as finance minister in May 2010. Her resignation was viewed negatively; the Indonesia Stock Exchange closed down 3.8% after the news, amid a broad selloff in Asia, while the Indonesian rupiah fell nearly 1% against the dollar.

There was widespread speculation that her resignation was due to political pressure, especially from Aburizal Bakrie, a powerful tycoon and leader of Golkar. Bakrie had enmity toward Sri Mulyani due to her investigation into tax fraud by the Bakrie Group, her refusal to prop up Bakrie's coal interests using government funds, and her refusal to declare the Sidoarjo mud flow, which was caused by drilling by Bakrie's company, as a "natural disaster".

On 20 May 2010, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono named Agus Martowardojo, CEO of Bank Mandiri, the largest bank in Indonesia, as her replacement.

Alleged hacking by Australian intelligence (2013)

In November 2013, The Guardian published articles based on leaks by Edward Snowden that showed the Australian Intelligence Community had hacked into the mobile phones of top Indonesian leaders in 2009. This included Sri Mulyani, who at that time was the minister of finance. Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott defended the actions, saying that the activities were not so much "spying" as "research" and that its intention would always be to use any information "for good".

Reappointment as finance minister (2016–2025)

In 2016, Sri Mulyani was reappointed finance minister. From 2017 to 2019, Sri Mulyani was named the best finance minister in the Asia-Pacific region three years in a row by FinanceAsia. In 2018, Indonesia recorded its smallest budget deficit since 2012.

In February 2020, Sri Mulyani announced a 10.3 trillion rupiah economic stimulus package to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 recession. In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Mulyani released a global bond series with a 50-year maturity, the longest loan offered in Indonesian history. In 2021, after the enactment of Presidential Decree No. 78/2021, she became one of the Vice Heads of the National Research and Innovation Agency Steering Committee, together with Suharso Monoarfa.

On 20 October 2024, Sri Mulyani was reappointed Minister of Finance by President Prabowo Subianto for 3rd consecutive term, ending in 2029, making her the first person to hold the position under three presidential administrations. Following the August 2025 Indonesian protests, she was dismissed as finance minister by Prabowo on 8 September.

Personal life

Sri Mulyani married economist Tonny Sumartono in 1988, with whom she has three children. She is a professional economist and has no political affiliation. Mulyani considers herself a role model for women.

Sri Mulyani's residence was looted during the August 2025 Indonesian protests on 31 August.

Honours

• Indonesia:
  • [[File:Bintang Mahaputera Adipradana rib.svg|60px]] Star of Mahaputera (2nd Class) () (10 August 2011)

References

Bibliography

• Keeping Indonesia Safe from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learnt from the National Economic Recovery Programme (2022) – editor

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