Agus Dermawan Wintarto Martowardojo (born 24 January 1956) is a former Governor of the Indonesian Central Bank. He held the office for a five-year term from 24 May 2013 to 24 May 2018. Previously, he was Finance Minister of Indonesia between 2010 and 2013 after succeeding former minister

Sri Mulyani Indrawati Sri Mulyani Indrawati (born 26 August 1962) is an Indonesian economist who has been Minister of Finance of Indonesia since 2016; previously she served in the same post from 2005 to 2010. In June 2010 she was appointed as Managing Director of the ...

, who resigned from the office and took position as Managing Director of the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Grou ...

Early career

Agus was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. After graduating from

University of Indonesia The University of Indonesia ( id, Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the Dut ...

's School of Economics in 1984, he became an international loan officer at the Indonesian branch of

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

. Agus has a long career as one of top

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

s in Indonesia. He was the Chief Executive Officer of

Bank Mandiri PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk or Bank Mandiri, headquartered in Jakarta, is the largest bank in Indonesia in terms of assets, loans and deposits. Total assets as of March 2021, were IDR 1.58 quadrillion (around US$110.56 billion). As ...

, the largest bank in Indonesia, between 2005 and 2010. He was the President Director of Bank Bumiputera (1995–1998) and President Director of Bank Ekspor Impor Indonesia (1998–1999). His performance as head of Bank Mandiri was considered successful, as he slashed

non-performing loan A non-performing loan (NPL) is a bank loan that is subject to late repayment or is unlikely to be repaid by the borrower in full. Non-performing loans represent a major challenge for the banking sector, as it reduces the profitability of banks, and ...

s and raised the bank's profile among international investors. He also increased profits in the banks. In 2008 for example, the bank paid $418m in dividends to the shareholders. He was also instrumental in helping the Finance Ministry in recovering Rp 1.23 trillion (US$133.15 million) of state money from

Tommy Soeharto Hutomo Mandala Putra (born 15 July 1962), commonly known as Tommy Suharto, is an Indonesian businessman, politician, and convicted murderer. The youngest son of Suharto, the second President of Indonesia, he has long had a reputation for nepotis ...

, son of late former president

Soeharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...

Finance Ministry

Following the resignation of

, Agus was appointed as Finance Minister in the

Second United Indonesia Cabinet The Second United Indonesia Cabinet ( id, Kabinet Indonesia Bersatu II) was inaugurated on 22 October 2009, two days after the inauguration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as President of Indonesia for the second term. The cabinet consists of members ...

. His selection was greeted positively by analysts as he was considered to have managerial skills required for the position. He also has wide international experience and has represented Indonesia in

G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, ...

forums. In March 2011 he announced his first fiscal policy as Finance Minister with a focus on promoting real sector growth and investment intended to spur Indonesia’s economic growth. Highlights of the new regulations included removing the

value added tax A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the end ...

(VAT) for the sale of houses worth less than Rp 70 million (US$7,910) compared with the previous Rp 55 million; eliminating taxes on the sales of cooking oil and bulk cooking oil for the poor; and providing in advance 50 percent of the funds needed by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) for the rice for the poor program.

Governor of Bank Indonesia

In 2008, following resignation of

Boediono Boediono ( EYD: Budiono, pronounced ; born 25 February 1943) is an Indonesian economist and statesman. He was the 11th vice president of Indonesia, in office from 2009 to 2014. He became vice president after winning the 2009 presidential electi ...

as Governor of

Bank Indonesia Bank Indonesia (BI) is the central bank of the Republic of Indonesia. It replaced in 1953 the Bank of Java ( nl, De Javasche Bank, DJB), which had been created in 1828 to serve the financial needs of the Dutch East Indies. History Bank of Ja ...

to run as

Vice President of Indonesia The vice president of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Wakil Presiden Republik Indonesia) is second-highest officer in the executive branch of the Indonesian government, after the president, and ranks first in the presidential line of succe ...

as the running mate of

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to by his initials SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party ...

, Agus was nominated as one of candidates for Governor. However his nomination was rejected by the national

Legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

, apparently for political reasons. On 22 February 2013, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono surprisingly named Agus as his sole candidate for the governorship, replacing

Darmin Nasution Darmin Nasution (born December 21, 1948) is an Indonesian economist and the current Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs. He was previously Governor of Bank of Indonesia, serving the role from 2010 to 2013 during Susilo Bamban ...

. On 27 March 2013, the Indonesian House of Representatives' Finance Commission confirmed Agus as governor of Bank Indonesia for the period of 2013–2018. Agus won 46 votes of support and seven votes against. One member abstained from the vote.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martowardojo, Agus 1956 births Living people Finance Ministers of Indonesia Governors of Bank Indonesia Indonesian bankers Indonesian economists Businesspeople from Amsterdam