JAKARTA – Bank Indonesia (BI) has continued printing Rupiah banknotes in 2026 bearing the signatures of Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, who signed as Finance Minister, and Perry Warjiyo, who signed as Governor of Bank Indonesia. The development has drawn attention because both officials no longer hold those positions.
The banknotes use the 2022 Rupiah design but carry a 2026 printing year. This has raised questions over why banknotes printed this year still bear the signatures of officials from a previous period.
BI Governor Destry Damayanti explained that printing banknotes is a routine activity carried out to meet the public’s demand for physical cash. The process is also conducted in stages rather than all at once.
“Printing money is a normal thing. Every year, we print money,” Destry said at a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday (September 24, 2026).
According to Destry, banknote production is carried out gradually based on projected demand for cash. As a result, a change in government or central bank officials does not automatically mean that an ongoing printing process must be stopped and replaced with the signatures of newly appointed officials.
“Printing doesn’t happen all at once at the beginning or the end of the year. There are stages to the process,” she said.
Destry added that demand for physical cash remains significant despite the continued growth of digital payments. In several parts of Indonesia, particularly areas where internet access and digital payment infrastructure are still limited, cash remains an important means of conducting transactions.
