Swan.my.id - Indonesia’s National Council for Financial Well-Being, known by its Indonesian abbreviation DNKK, is intended to move financial policy beyond simply helping people open accounts. President Prabowo Subianto formally established the council on Thursday, October 22, 2026, with a broader mandate to strengthen the financial well-being of households. The initiative builds on existing financial inclusion work while placing greater emphasis on how people use financial services in everyday life.
Prabowo announced the council during the National Coordination Meeting of Regional Financial Access Acceleration Teams, or TPAKD, at JIExpo Kemayoran in Central Jakarta. He said he was formally establishing the DNKK during the event. The government presents the new body as a way to strengthen public financial well-being and complement the National Council for Financial Inclusion, known as DNKI.
Why Indonesia is extending its financial inclusion agenda
The policy responds to a gap between access to financial services and people’s ability to understand and manage them. In November 2025, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto cited national figures showing financial inclusion at 92.7 percent, while financial literacy stood at 66.4 percent. Those figures describe different parts of the financial landscape: access may be widespread, but knowledge does not necessarily keep pace.
An account or access to a banking service does not, by itself, ensure that a person can choose suitable products or manage household finances effectively. Consumers also need to understand the services available and use them in ways that fit their needs. The council’s stated direction therefore links financial access with literacy and the wider financial condition of families.
The idea for the DNKK was first raised by Prabowo on November 27, 2025, following a meeting with Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. At that time, Máxima served as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health. The government’s proposal drew on the concept of financial health as a complement to efforts focused on financial inclusion.
According to an official statement from the State Secretariat, Airlangga said the president had called for a council on financial well-being, or financial health, to improve and complete the work of the DNKI. Airlangga described the new body as an extension of the existing national approach, rather than a replacement for the goal of bringing more people into the formal financial system.
From account ownership to household financial health
The DNKI had focused more directly on inclusion, including encouraging people to have bank accounts. By contrast, Airlangga said the DNKK is intended to help ensure that financial services and products deliver greater benefits for household finances. This change in emphasis places the quality and usefulness of access alongside its reach.
That distinction matters because access alone cannot show whether a service suits a household’s circumstances. A wider range of products may be available, but people still need the knowledge to assess them and the ability to use them appropriately. The council’s combined focus on access, literacy and well-being reflects that broader view of financial participation.
One of the council’s key priorities is expanding access to financing that is affordable and easy to reach, especially for micro, small and medium enterprises. For these businesses, financing access forms part of the DNKK’s stated agenda. The government has not, in the information announced, set out specific lending targets or a schedule for delivering this priority.
More broadly, the DNKK’s agenda covers improving family financial well-being, expanding access to financial services, strengthening financial literacy and inclusion, and coordinating programs across ministries and agencies. These priorities bring several related policy concerns under one national council. Coordination is part of its remit, while practical results will depend on how relevant institutions carry out their programs.
Leadership and the council’s legal basis
Airlangga said the DNKK was established under Government Regulation Number 43 of 2026. Prabowo serves as its chair, while Airlangga holds the position of daily chair. Friderica Widyasari Dewi, chair of the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Services Authority, or OJK, serves as deputy chair.
The daily deputy chairs are Bank Indonesia Governor Destry Damayanti, Deputy Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara and Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian. The council also includes a number of relevant ministers as members. This leadership structure brings officials from economic, financial and government institutions into the same body.
The arrangement gives the council a role in coordinating work across agencies, consistent with its stated emphasis on linking financial access, literacy and household well-being. However, the establishment of a council alone does not show how individual programs will change. Its stated responsibilities provide the framework; delivery will depend on coordination and implementation by the institutions involved.
What the new council signals for families
The formation of the DNKK marks a continuation and transformation of the DNKI approach. The government retains financial inclusion as an objective but adds a stronger focus on whether access supports the financial health of families. That means the council’s remit reaches beyond the number of people with accounts or access to services.
For households, the policy direction points to the importance of understanding financial products as well as being able to reach them. For smaller businesses, affordable and accessible financing is a named priority. The council’s broader task is to connect those concerns with government programs and pursue a more complete picture of financial well-being.
The figures cited by Airlangga help explain why the government is widening its focus: high financial inclusion exists alongside a lower level of financial literacy. The DNKK is designed to address that wider challenge through a combination of access, understanding and coordination. Its next significance will rest on how the stated agenda translates into support that households and businesses can use.
