Perry Warjiyo

Early in 2020, monetary policy was eased once again. On 20 February, the benchmark interest rate (7 day reverse repo rate) was eased from 5% to 4.75%. The move was seen, partly, as a response to uncertainties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and, indeed, the Bank Indonesia statement announcing the interest rate cut made reference to the virus outbreak.

In October 2019, Global Markets on-line newspaper recognised Perry Warjiyo as Governor of the Year 2019 for the Asia-Pacific region. The award was presented to Perry "for his achievements in terms of maintaining economic stability in Indonesia despite economic and political shocks and throughout the digital transformation undertaken by Bank Indonesia."

Discussing the stance of monetary policy in early 2019, Perry suggested that he regarded monetary policy as quite tight. He said Bank Indonesia's interest policy rate would be set to anticipate external factors, especially to stabilize the exchange rate and to limit the current account deficit to 2.5% of GDP. Later, in May, when the rupiah began to weaken as a result of trends in international financial markets, Bank Indonesia indicated that monetary policy would remain firm. This approach was in contrast to decisions announced at the time in both Malaysia and the Philippines to relax monetary policy somewhat and to lower interest rates. However, beginning in July, a series of measures were taken to ease monetary policy in Indonesia:

Perry Warjiyo has an extensive publication record of articles covering a wide range of monetary policy issues in both English and Indonesian. He has also maintained links with universities across Indonesia. He has provided numerous guest lectures about monetary policy in Indonesian universities and has acted as a supervisor and examiner in post-graduate studies in the Faculty of Economics and Business in the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. More recently, in 2019 his book on Central Bank Policy: Theory and Practice, co-authored with Solikin M. Juhro, was published. The book provides a survey of central bank policies in emerging market economies.

Shortly after Perry become Governor in mid-2018, international economic conditions led to pressure on the Indonesian exchange rate and the rupiah depreciated noticeably. In response, several increases in the domestic interest rate were announced and Perry indicated that Bank Indonesia planned to pursue policies to promote domestic economic growth and maintain stability. He said that he believed that there were "three keys to a country's resilience in the face of external pressures." These were, "First, the conviction that our economy is healthy. Second, it's the courage to adopt the policies that are required, which are sound and preemptive. If you live under uncertainty, don't linger over it. ... Third, there should be clear and intensive communication." In mid-August 2018 when there appeared to be market pressures encouraging a depreciation of the rupiah, Perry announced a further increase in domestic interest rates.

Later in 2018, as the US Fed tightened monetary policy in America, Bank Indonesia indicated that interest rates in Indonesia would be increased further if necessary. In late September, the official rate in Indonesia was lifted to 5.25%. The rate was increased again in several moves to 6% by mid-November. This increase was the sixth rise in interest rates since Perry had been appointed Governor.

Perry Warjiyo was born in Sukoharjo, a town in Central Java south of the larger city of Surakarta. He attended primary and secondary school in Sukoharjo before studying at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. He graduated from the Economics Faculty at Gadjah Mada University in 1982 and later undertook studies at Iowa State University in the United States. He graduated in economics at Iowa State University, specialising in monetary policies and international finance, with a master's degree in 1989 and a PhD in 1991.

Perry Warjiyo (born 25 February 1959) is the current Governor of Bank Indonesia, Indonesia's central Bank. His nomination for the post of Governor was approved by the Indonesian parliament on 28 March 2018. He was sworn into office on 24 May 2018, succeeding the previous Governor Agus Martowardojo.