Indonesia parliament confirms Destry Damayanti as new central bank chief

Indonesia's parliament on Tuesday confirmed Destry Damayanti as the new central bank governor, following the abrupt resignation of Perry Warjiyo in July.

Destry was the only candidate after being nominated by President Prabowo Subianto last month and had been standing in as the acting chief since Perry left office.

Prabowo's nomination of a successor had been closely watched for signs of political interference, and his nephew Thomas Djiwandono, a deputy governor, had been touted as a possible nominee.

Before Perry's surprise resignation, Destry, a 62-year-old economist, had been a deputy governor at Bank Indonesia (BI) since 2019.

Fitch Ratings said her nomination reinforced "expectations of policy continuity".

In a confirmation hearing before parliament last week, Destry vowed to stick to the mission "to make BI an institution that remains relevant in responding to challenges and remains credible in maintaining stability, while driving sustainable economic growth".

Perry's departure was the second of a major economic policymaker since Prabowo took office in October 2024, and sparked speculation that he had been pressured to do more to support the government's pro-growth agenda, according to Capital Economics and other observers.

Compounding worries over BI's independence was a bill passed in June that tasked parliament with evaluating its performance and gave it responsibility for economic growth -- a key focus of Prabowo's.

Perry's resignation came against a challenging backdrop with the rupiah plummeting and stock market slumping.

The bank's board of governors, comprising a governor and several deputies, decides on monetary policy and sets interest rates.

Perry's last policy meeting in July saw the bank hold borrowing costs at 5.75 percent following cumulative increases of 100 points this year that likely frustrated the government, according to Capital Economics.

It also left them unchanged last month.