The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, revealed the great potential of gold belonging to the community that is still stored privately. The total is estimated to reach 1,800 tons with a value of around 252 billion US dollars or the equivalent of Rp4,460 trillion.

This was conveyed by Airlangga at the launch of the Indonesia Bullion Market Association (IBMA) at BSI Tower, Central Jakarta, Thursday (20/8/2026). According to Airlangga, the gold that is still stored in the community can be a new source of growth for the bullion ecosystem in Indonesia.

“The gold under the pillow is 1,800 tons. Well, if it’s 1,800 tons, it’s also an extraordinary value, 252 billion US dollars,” said Airlangga.

1. The assumption is that if 20 percent of gold enters the formal financial system, it will have a big impact on the bullion ecosystem

He said that some of the gold has the potential to be diverted to financial instruments, Islamic banking, and pawnshops. If only about 20 percent of the gold enters the formal financial system, the impact on the development of the bullion ecosystem is considered to be significant.

“Of this 252 billion US dollars, maybe only 20 percent has moved from being put under the pillow to being put into financial instruments or banking instruments in sharia and pawnshops, so this is an extraordinary growth,” he said.

2. The gold stock in BI is only 70 tons

On the other hand, Airlangga also compared Indonesia’s gold stocks with a number of countries. The United States has reserves of about 8,133 tons, while China has about 2,331 tons. Meanwhile, India recorded around 880 tons.

With the community’s gold ownership estimated at 1,800 tons, Indonesia’s position is considered quite large globally. However, the gold stock stored in Bank Indonesia (BI) is still relatively small, which is around 70 tons.

“But indeed from BI we are still low, only 70 tons at Bank Indonesia,” said Airlangga.

3. The government encourages downstream to increase added value

Furthermore, the government also continues to encourage downstream to increase the added value of natural resources, including through the development of the bullion ecosystem.

“This bulllion is something that will be relied on in the future, especially to increase added value from downstream in the mining and energy sector,” said Airlangga.