President Prabowo Subianto has sacked finance minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, whom he appointed a little over a year ago.

Appointed on September 8, 2025, Mr Sadewa was fired on Monday, a letter from the president’s office said. He was replaced by his deputy, Suahasil Nazara, who immediately took the oath of office the same day.

Mr Sadewa’s tenure was marred by economic instability and recommendations inconsistent with international law.

For instance, in April, Mr Sadewa mulled imposing a fee on ships traversing the Malacca Strait to leverage the critical trade route. But it generated the kind of backlash that Mr Subianto’s government was unprepared for.

The backlash from the remarks led Thailand’s foreign minister to issue a statement distancing the administration from such charges.

Last month, Mr Sadewa announced that the sovereign wealth fund, Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara), would hand over $6.8 billion in profits to the government to close the budget deficit. But Danantara denied knowledge of such an arrangement.

The incident, along with other fiscal policies that have so far sunk Thailand’s economy, culminated in Mr Sadewa’s termination on Monday.