Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has responded to speculation about his potential candidacy as vice president in the 2029 general election.
Purbaya emphasized that he has never thought about becoming the country’s second-highest official.

“I’ve only been working for a month—come on, that’s crazy. I haven’t thought about it at all,” he said when met at the Jakarta International Convention Center on Thursday, October 9, 2025.

He explained that, for now, he remains fully focused on performing his duties as Finance Minister.
According to him, the economic situation is very dynamic and can change at any time, requiring constant attention.

Purbaya further stated that the economic issues he has handled so far are only at the surface level.
“The deeper problems haven’t been addressed yet. I haven’t thought about anything else, nor do I care to,” said the former Head of the Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS).

Earlier, Purbaya mentioned that his performance as the nation’s treasurer has already shown early positive results during his first month serving under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration.
He officially assumed office as Minister of Finance on September 8, 2025, replacing Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

According to Purbaya, during his tenure so far, the Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG) has strengthened.
When he first took office, the index stood at 7,766.8, and it has now climbed to around 8,100.

“It’s only been a month, and yet there are already results. Don’t be disappointed—look, the IHSG has risen sharply,” he said at the Investor Daily Summit 2025 held at the Jakarta International Convention Center on October 9, 2025.

Purbaya also noted that, during his first month in office, public optimism toward the government has improved significantly.
He said this was reflected in a decline in public demonstrations.
“Optimism has returned. Those who used to protest are now doing it less often. They’re busy scrolling TikTok, reading comments about me instead,” he said jokingly.

At the beginning of his tenure, Purbaya had humorously suggested that the IHSG could reach 36,000.
He explained that each time Indonesia recovers from a crisis, the stock index tends to rebound rapidly.

For instance, in 2001 the IHSG was only around 300, before surging to 2,500 in 2008, and then to about 6,500 in 2018.
According to him, the IHSG still has room to grow further if global market sentiment improves.