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 t ...

, 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 Gr ...

Early career

Agus was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

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 D ...

'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 ...

. Agus has a long career as one of top

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts 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 markets. Becaus ...

s in Indonesia. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Bank Mandiri, 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 loans 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, son of late former president Soeharto.

Finance Ministry

Following the resignation of

, Agus was appointed as Finance Minister in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet. 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 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 en ...

(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 as Governor of Bank Indonesia to run as Vice President of Indonesia as the running mate of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, 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 laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

, 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 Bambang ...

. 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