Indonesia’s PPATK seeks a major budget increase to strengthen online gambling enforcement
The country’s financial intelligence agency, PPATK, wants an additional US$31.7m in funding for 2027 to boost its fight against online gambling, money laundering and other financial crimes.
Indonesia.- Indonesia’s Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) has requested an additional IDR516.4bn (US$31.7m) for its 2027 budget, saying the extra funding is needed to strengthen efforts against online gambling, money laundering and terrorism financing.
If approved, the increase would raise the agency’s total budget to IDR769.8bn (US$47.3m), more than triple its current allocation.
PPATK said much of the additional funding would be used to improve transaction monitoring, financial investigations, compliance activities, international cooperation and technology systems.
The request comes as Indonesian authorities continue to intensify their crackdown on online gambling. This week, PPATK warned that gambling-related transactions could increase during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, after detecting patterns similar to those seen before previous major football tournaments.
The agency also reported that Indonesia’s QRIS digital payment system has been used for football betting transactions and that some gambling funds have been moved through nominee bank accounts.
Despite a decline in online gambling turnover in 2025, authorities still recorded 422.1 million gambling transactions and IDR36.01tn (US$2.4bn) in deposits during the year.
The proposal has already received support from lawmakers, who argue that PPATK needs greater resources to track and recover assets linked to financial crimes and illegal gambling operations.
