Indonesian President Prabowo’s nephew Thomas Djiwandono secures central bank deputy governor post

January 27, 2026

Tommy, now deputy secretary of the Treasury, underwent a screening interview with members of House Committee 11, which oversees financial affairs. The House made a quick decision after concluding the interview.

The committee’s chairman, Mukhamad Misbakhun, announced Tommy’s election to the media minutes after he left the building, saying he was “a figure acceptable to all political parties” and that a decision would be taken at a plenary session the next day.

The future deputy governor addressed market sentiment in his remarks at the hearing, acknowledging that “the assumptions about him were not good” given his family ties to President Prabowo Subianto.

He said there was “no other way” to fend off opponents “but to do the best I can.”

According to the BI, President Prabowo nominated his nephew Tommy on January 19 to replace former BI Deputy Governor Juda Agung, who resigned effective January 13. On the same day, Finance Minister Purbhaya Yudi Sadeva said that Juda would succeed Tommy as deputy finance minister.

Tommy’s nomination hit both the rupiah and Indonesia’s 10-year bond yields amid concerns about Indonesia’s central bank independence.

Soon after news of Tommy’s nomination broke, the rupee, already hit by global uncertainty, depreciated sharply. The yuan hit a record low against the dollar last week, but has since regained its footing by a considerable margin.

However, post-nomination bond yields continued to rise to 6.3% from 6.1% in December. The figure rose again to 6.41% on Friday, but fell back to 6.33% on Monday, reflecting investors’ worsening views on the risks of Indonesian bonds.

USCIS Director Perry Warjiyo revealed on Wednesday that all nominations stem from his recommendations to the president and vowed that USCIS will maintain professionalism and data-based decision-making regardless of the outcome of the lieutenant governor’s race.

Tommy was nominated along with two other candidates: Solikin M. Juhro, assistant governor of the central bank, and Dicky Kartikoyono, also a central bank official. Solikin had his screening interview on Friday, while Dickey had his screening interview on Monday, shortly before Tommy.

With the exception of Tommy, who will serve as deputy finance minister from July 2024, the other nominees have established their careers within the Monetary Policy Administration, an appointment that some experts view as problematic.

At the hearing, Tommy emphasized the “synergy” between the fiscal and monetary authorities, which must be strengthened without compromising Bank Indonesia’s independence while maintaining the track of the “mission”.

He said the monetarist approach adopted by Finance Minister Purbaya had put heavy pressure on liquidity supplies and was “worth considering” given that he believed it would boost economic growth.

Tommy wrote in the presentation that the burden-sharing program “will not continue,” but that was not stated during the hearing. When reporters asked for confirmation on this matter, he replied: “Burden sharing is a concept of the past.”

The scheme, introduced during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, requires the central bank to bear the cost of financing the national budget. The program allows the central bank to purchase government bonds in the primary or secondary market but return all or part of the coupon interest.

The scheme was introduced in 2020 as a crisis response as a lifeline to governments to allow for frenzied selling as they struggled to keep economic activity going, and it remains in place today long after the pandemic is over.

Tommy, the son of Soedradjad Djiwandono, the governor of Indonesia’s central bank in the 1990s, is married to Prabowo’s sister Biantiningsih Miderawati Djiwandono and serves as deputy chief executive of Arsari Group, owned by Prabowo’s brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo.

The future lieutenant governor received his undergraduate degree from Haverford College in Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in international relations and international economics from Johns Hopkins University.

Questions were raised about Tommy’s political affiliation when his nomination emerged, but he revealed in the interview that he had not been a member of Prabowo’s Grand Revolutionary Party since late last year, which he said was “part of a commitment to the independence of the Immigration Service.”