September 8, 2026 | 06:02 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia has restructured the debt from its Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project, known as Whoosh, with annual repayments of around Rp1 trillion (US$60 million) over a term of up to 80 years, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said Tuesday.
“The total debt is large, but it has been restructured over 80 years, with repayments of around Rp1 trillion or slightly less each year. Some years will be higher and some lower,” Purbaya said at a media briefing in Jakarta.
He said the repayment burden under the restructuring was relatively manageable and could be handled by the Finance Ministry.
The government is preparing to transfer responsibility for managing the Whoosh debt from Danantara, Indonesia’s state asset management agency, to the Finance Ministry on September 15, 2026.
Finance Ministry considers debt manager
Purbaya previously said the government planned to use a special mission vehicle (SMV), a state-owned entity or public service agency under the Finance Ministry, to manage the Whoosh debt.
The ministry is considering Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) and PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (SMI) for the role. However, Purbaya said the government could appoint only one entity because the annual repayment burden is considered manageable.
“I’m only looking at what the annual burden will be. If it is only this much, it should be enough to be handled by one SMV under the Finance Ministry,” he said.
Purbaya previously estimated that involving a Finance Ministry entity in the debt restructuring could generate up to Rp800 billion in annual returns. He said the SMV or public service agency had sufficient capacity to manage the debt, with one such entity potentially generating Rp3 trillion to Rp4 trillion in annual profits.
Government eyes Whoosh extension
After the debt management is transferred to the government, Purbaya said he plans to expand the Whoosh high-speed rail network beyond its current Jakarta-Bandung route, potentially extending it to East Java.
“We will extend it to East Java. It will belong to the government, with the SMV owning the high-speed train. We will extend it to East Java,” Purbaya said.
He added that he had discussed the possibility with China’s finance minister and other officials involved in the project, saying they appeared interested in the plan.
Whooshh is Indonesia’s first high-speed rail line and currently connects Jakarta with Bandung in West Java.
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