Bambang Subianto

Bambang Subianto (10 January 1945 – 4 November 2022) was an Indonesian academic and technocrat who served as Minister of Finance from 1998 to 1999. Before assuming the post of finance minister, Bambang worked in the Department of Finance for about a decade.

Early life and education Bambang was born on 10 January 1945 in Madiun He obtained his postgraduate and doctoral degrees in 1981 and 1984, respectively.

Career Two years after graduating from ITB, Bambang started his career in the Faculty of Economics of the University of Indonesia (UI) as a researcher and lecturer. He continued his stint in the university upon returning to Indonesia. Bambang became the chairman of the management institute of the faculty in 1988 after becoming the deputy chairman for about a year. Aside from his job in the university, Bambang was also active in the Union of Indonesian Engineers, where he was elected as one of its chairmen. Bambang was appointed as its first chair in January 1998. He was fired from his job as director general in March 1998 by minister of finance Fuad Bawazier. At that time, Fuad was known as a nationalist finance minister and had alienated monetary fund officials and foreign investors. He was installed as minister along with other members of the cabinet a day later. Upon his inauguration, Bambang, alongside four other ministers from the economics compartment, promised that they would resign if there were no fundamental changes in economics and politics within three months.

Suara Karya compared Bambang's appointment to Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who had previously served as director general in the department of mines and energy under the previous cabinet and was fired by minister Ida Bagus Sudjana, but was appointed to replace Sudjana.

During his tenure as finance minister, Bambang, along with the Governor of Bank Indonesia Syahril Sabirin, was involved in transferring Bank Indonesia from under the Department of Finance to directly under the president. The move allowed the stabilization of the rupiah exchange rate, which was previously around 18,000 Indonesian rupiah per one United States dollar to 6,500 Indonesian rupiah. Bambang was eventually dismissed as financial minister and was replaced by Bambang Sudibyo.

Later life and death After ending his term as minister, Bambang joined various private companies, where he either become a member of the board or President Commissioner. He joined Ernst & Young as a partner in July 2000, and retired in 2005. In 2009 he became the head of Arghajata Consulting, a company engaged in management consulting services, in addition to serving as board member in various companies, including Star Energy Investments (2008–2011), Unilever Indonesia (2008–2015), and Jamsostek (2009–2014).

Subianto died in Jakarta on 4 November 2022, at age 77.