Indonesia to close 750 state firms by end of 2026, Prabowo says
President announces restructuring of state-owned enterprises to cut costs and investigate past management
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, left, gestures as he delivers his annual state of nation address in front of the members of the Parliament, while Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka sits next to him, ahead of the country's 81st Independence Day anniversary, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday. (Photo: Reuters)
Photograph: Bangkok Post (embedded from source)
What this story says
- President Prabowo Subianto announced the closure of more than 750 state-owned enterprises by the end of 2026, reducing the total from 1,074 to around 300.
- The government has already closed 290 enterprises, saving 50 trillion rupiah ($2.8 billion) in overhead costs, with a target of 70 trillion rupiah this year.
- Prabowo suggested creating a special court to investigate the management of state-owned enterprises over the past 30 years, while offering amnesty for those who cooperate.
- The restructuring is described by Prabowo as potentially the largest corporate restructuring in the world.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 3 of the 10 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
68/100
Craft
85/100
Hype
15/100
10 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 2 of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announced on 14 August 2026 that the government will close more than 750 state-owned enterprises by the end of the year. The decision follows the discovery of 1,074 such enterprises, far exceeding the president’s initial estimate of 300 to 400. Prabowo stated that many of these enterprises were unproductive, reporting losses while falsely claiming profits.
As of the announcement, 290 enterprises have already been closed. The restructuring effort has saved approximately 50 trillion rupiah (over $2.8 billion) in overhead costs, including salaries, rentals, and travel expenses. The government aims to save more than 70 trillion rupiah this year. Prabowo described the initiative as potentially the largest corporate restructuring in the world.
Prabowo also proposed the creation of a special ad hoc court to investigate the management and boards of state-owned enterprises over the past 30 years. He suggested offering amnesty to those who cooperate with the investigations. The president’s remarks were made during his state of the nation address to parliament.
What the coverage left out
None of the digests from the right-rated outlets mentioned the proposed special ad hoc court to investigate past management or the offer of amnesty for those who cooperate. The left-rated digest from Le Monde did not include the financial savings or the target of 70 trillion rupiah for this year. The centre-rated digest from France24 omitted the number of enterprises already closed and the specific savings achieved so far.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 14 Aug 2026, 11:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
2 rated outlets
- The left-rated report from Le Monde, summarised in a digest, led on the scale of the restructuring. It quoted Prabowo’s statement that he had initially believed there were only 300 to 400 state-owned enterprises, but the government discovered 1,074. The digest also highlighted Prabowo’s description of the enterprises as acting "as they please" without accountability.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The centre-rated digest from France24 carried Prabowo’s direct quote about unproductive state-owned enterprises "always reporting losses while claiming profits, those profits are just made up." It also noted Indonesia’s long-standing battle against corruption in both public and private sectors, including the strengthening of anti-graft laws and the creation of investigative commissions.
Right
4 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports, including the full article from the Bangkok Post, led on the financial and governance aspects of the closures. The Bangkok Post quoted Prabowo’s call for a special court to investigate past management and his offer of amnesty for those who repent. It also detailed the savings achieved so far and the target for this year.
- The digests from thairath.co.th, The Rio Times, and Free Malaysia Today all emphasised the cost-saving and anti-corruption motives behind the closures. The Rio Times’ digest noted that the plan involves closing, merging, or consolidating more than 750 entities, with around 240 to 250 already addressed. None of the right-rated digests mentioned the proposed special court or the amnesty offer.
Read it at the source
10 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
2- Indonesia Will Close over 750 State-Owned Companies: President Prabowo Subianto Promises "Perhaps the Largest Restructuring in the World" (opens Le Monde in a new tab)
- An Important Country Announces that It Will Close over 750 State Companies: "I Thought There Were 300 or 400, but It Turned Out that There Are 1,074 / How Many Romania Has in a Population 15 Times Smaller - HotNews.ro (opens Hot News in a new tab)
Centre
1Right
4- Indonesia Is Preparing to Close More than 750 State-Owned Enterprises by the End of the Year in an Effort to Reduce Costs and Combat Corruption. (opens thairath.co.th in a new tab)
thairath.co.th — is thairath.co.th biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Indonesia to close over 750 state-owned enterprises (opens Bangkok Post in a new tab)
Bangkok Post — is Bangkok Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Indonesia Plans to Cut State Firms From 1,000 to 250 (opens The Rio Times in a new tab)
The Rio Times — is The Rio Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Indonesia to close more than 750 state-owned enterprises (opens Free Malaysia Today News in a new tab)
Free Malaysia Today News — is Free Malaysia Today News biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
3- Indonesia to Close over 750 State-Owned Companies (opens LaProvence.com in a new tab)
LaProvence.com — is LaProvence.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Prabowo Claims SOE Restructuring Is the World's Largest Business Action, with 750 Companies to Be Shut Down (opens medcom.id in a new tab)
- Battling corruption: Indonesia to close more than 750 state-owned enterprises (opens rtl.lu in a new tab)
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Indonesia to close 750 state firms by end of 2026, Prabowo says?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 29% are rated left, 14% are rated centre, 57% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 10. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Indonesia to close 750 state firms by end of 2026, Prabowo says left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Indonesia to close 750 state firms by end of 2026, Prabowo says biased?
- Indonesia to close 750 state firms by end of 2026, Prabowo says is one event reported by 10 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Indonesia to close 750 state firms by end of 2026, Prabowo says?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Indonesia to close 750 state firms by end of 2026, Prabowo says?
- 10 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- How many state-owned enterprises will Indonesia close by the end of 2026?
- Indonesia plans to close more than 750 state-owned enterprises by the end of 2026, reducing the total from 1,074 to around 300. The government has already closed 290 enterprises as part of the restructuring effort.
- What is the financial target of Indonesia’s state-owned enterprise restructuring?
- The Indonesian government aims to save more than 70 trillion rupiah (over $4 billion) this year through the restructuring of state-owned enterprises. So far, the effort has saved about 50 trillion rupiah ($2.8 billion) in overhead costs.
- What did President Prabowo say about the management of state-owned enterprises?
- President Prabowo Subianto stated that many state-owned enterprises were unproductive, reporting losses while falsely claiming profits. He proposed creating a special court to investigate their management over the past 30 years and offered amnesty to those who cooperate.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
