Ministry of Finance to take over Whoosh high-speed rail management in Sept 2026
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Ministry of Finance to take over Whoosh high-speed rail management in Sept 2026
Published on 26/08/2026 GMT+7
Reading time 3 minutes
Author: Julian Isaac
Editor: Assistant Editor
Move aims to speed up debt handling and reduce the direct burden on Indonesia’s state budget
Indonesia's Ministry of Finance will take over the management of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, known as Whoosh, in September 2026 through a Special Mission Vehicle (SMV), Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, Finance Minister said.
The move is intended to accelerate the handling of Whoosh's debt while preventing the railway's financial obligations from directly adding to the state budget (APBN).
“Management will be carried out through the Ministry of Finance’s Special Mission Vehicle (SMV) so that debt handling can be accelerated and does not directly burden the state budget,” Purbaya said in a video posted to his TikTok account on Sunday, August 23, 2026.
Purbaya said the government had been preparing the takeover since discussions with Danantara, earlier in August. The government plans to use two SMVs under the Finance Ministry to manage the project.
“We will use our fiscal SMVs to manage it. We have several, including SMI and others. So it will not directly become the responsibility of the state budget. Even though it will be managed by the government, it will not burden the state budget,” Purbaya said at the time.
KCIC ownership to move under Finance Ministry's vehicle
The government's stake in PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC), the operator of Whoosh, is currently held through PT Pilar Singeri BUMN Indonesia (PSBI), which owns 60% of KCIC. A Chinese consortium led by Beijing Yawan HSR Co Ltd holds the remaining 40%.
PSBI consists of state-owned PT Kereta Api Indonesia, PT Wijaya Karya, PT Jasa Marga and PT Perkebunan Nusantara VIII. KAI is the largest individual shareholder, with a 51.37% stake in KCIC.
Following the planned takeover, KCIC's ownership and management will come under the Finance Ministry's SMV rather than KAI.
“KCIC ownership will be with me, not under KAI anymore,” Purbaya said.
Whoosh debt and cost overruns
The project's total investment reached about US$7.27 billion (Rp120.38 trillion). Around 75% of the investment was financed through loans from China Development Bank (CDB), with an annual interest rate of 2% under a fixed-rate arrangement for the first 40 years.
The project also incurred a US$1.2 billion (Rp19.8 trillion) cost overrun. Additional borrowing used to cover the overruns carries an interest rate of more than 3% per year. Data previously disclosed by KAI showed that US$542.7 million (Rp8.4 trillion) in CDB loans was used to cover the Indonesian consortium's share of the cost overrun. The amount comprised US$325.6 million (Rp5.04 trillion) in US dollar-denominated loans and US$217 million (Rp3.36 trillion) in yuan-denominated loans, with the latter carrying a 3.1% interest rate.
The Indonesian consortium's portion of the cost overrun was financed through 75% CDB borrowing, while the remaining 25% was covered by a state capital injection from the APBN.
The transfer to the Finance Ministry's SMV is therefore expected to give the government a dedicated mechanism to manage the railway's debt without making its obligations a direct charge on the state budget.
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CorporateAsset ManagementRailwayWhoosh
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Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu)
State Budget (APBN)
China Development Bank (CDB)
PT Kereta Api Indonesia China (KCIC)
PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI)
PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA)
PT Jasa Marga (Persero) Tbk (JSMR)
PT Perkebunan Nusantara VIII
Beijing Yawan HSR Co Ltd
PT Pilar Singeri BUMN Indonesia (PSBI)
Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa
Danantara Indonesia
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