The plan to establish bullion banks will be supported by state-owned miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia by processing gold bars in the country, he said.
"So far, most of our raw materials have been exported abroad, but now, they can be processed domestically," he noted here on Wednesday.
According to the minister, a system created by Antam and Freeport will create sufficient gold reserves to be used as public savings.
Furthermore, the Ministry of SOEs will discuss the potential for gold savings with PT Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), as a key operator.
"We must sit down with BSI and all (related stakeholders). I hope this plan can be accelerated," he said.
The cooperation between Antam and Freeport will help save up to Rp200 trillion in foreign exchange, as previously, Antam only imported raw materials for gold bars, he claimed.
In addition to BSI, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, will also propose the name of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) as a key operator of a bullion bank.
"In my opinion, this is the beginning of several banks becoming bullion banks. I propose to OJK (Financial Services Authority) to appoint BRI, which is the holding of (pawnshop operator) Pegadaian, and also BSI as bullion banks in Indonesia," he said.
"As we know that gold is part of a safe investment during a crisis," Hartarto added.
He noted that currently, Indonesia has large gold reserves.
PT Pegadaian, for example, currently holds 70 tons of gold reserves.
However, so far, the gold reserves have only been recorded as tonnage without being included in a bank's financial balance sheet.
"In other countries, such as Singapore, gold is included in the bank's balance sheet, thus providing added value," he said.
In contrast, in Indonesia, gold is often only managed as a raw material without full processing.
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Translator: Maria Cicilia Galuh Prayudhia, Yashinta Difa
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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