Indonesia's International Financial Centre (PFII): What Article 248A Says and What Is Still Unverified

By Jeremy Jordan, S.H. — licensed Indonesian advocate (advokat), DPN Indonesia, NIA 25.25.32730 · Reviewed 4 November 2026

Who this guide is for

You have a property interest in Bali — a villa lease, a building, land held through a structure — or you run an Indonesian company with foreign investment (PT PMA), or you are thinking about moving money, family or residence to Indonesia. You keep hearing that Bali will become an international financial centre with very low tax and its own courts. This guide separates what we have been able to read in the official text of Indonesian law from what has only been announced or reported. It is general information as of the review date below, not advice on your situation.

What we can read today: Article 248A of Law 4/2026

Article 248A was inserted into Law 4/2023 on the Development and Strengthening of the Financial Sector (the P2SK Law) by Law 4/2026. Law 4/2026 was signed and promulgated on 17 June 2026 (State Gazette 2026 No. 62). Article 248A says, in short:

• The Government establishes the centre. The Government establishes the Indonesia International Financial Centre (Pusat Finansial Internasional Indonesia, PFII) (Article 248A(1)).
• An area with special legal arrangements. The PFII is an area with financial and administrative independence and certain legal specialties that adopt, incorporate, apply and/or adjust to international principles and/or standards (Article 248A(2)). It remains part of Indonesia; the article does not say Indonesian law stops applying there.
• There may be more than one. The Government may establish one or more PFII (Article 248A(3)). The article does not name Bali or any other place.
• Three kinds of business. Business in a PFII covers financial-sector business, business supporting the financial sector, and business in other sectors (Article 248A(4)).
• A council manages it. The PFII is managed by a PFII council (Article 248A(5)).
• Special tax treatment for business activities. Business activities in a PFII receive special tax treatment, special tax facilities and other special facilities (Article 248A(6)). The article states no rate and no eligibility conditions.
• A separate law is required. How the PFII is run must be regulated specifically by a separate law, to be formed no later than three months after Law 4/2026 was promulgated (Article 248A(7)) — that is, by 17 September 2026. The deadline alone does not tell you whether, when or with what content that law was promulgated.

The official elucidation lists the purposes: to make Indonesia more competitive as an international financial centre, deepen and innovate the financial sector, attract national and international investors and financial businesses, facilitate financing (including national strategic projects, sustainable, climate and infrastructure finance), and strengthen the financial sector's contribution to the economy.

Article 248A does not address location, tax rates, visas, land or courts. Whether and how later legislation addresses them is covered below.

The separate PFII law

The Ministry of Finance announced on 2 July 2026 that the Government and the House of Representatives (DPR) had formally begun deliberating the PFII bill. The DPR placed the final (second-level) decision on the bill on the agenda of its 26th plenary session on 21 July 2026, and the DPR's own news service reported the bill approved that day. Press reports refer to the resulting law as Law No. 6 of 2026; we have not seen that number in an official source.

We have not obtained the official text of that law as of 4 November 2026. On that date the State Audit Board's regulation database (peraturan.bpk.go.id) listed Laws 1 to 5 of 2026 and not the PFII law. We therefore do not summarise its articles here. Press summaries of tax holidays, foreign-currency use, English as a working language or ad hoc foreign judges may prove accurate, but we have not verified them against the text.

What the Government itself said when it presented the bill (Ministry of Finance press release SP-80/KLI/2026, 2 July 2026): the bill would set up institutions to run, manage and supervise the PFII and to resolve disputes; it would offer facilities in immigration, employment, residence and licensing; it proposed a PFII Court for disputes linked to business in the PFII; and the Finance Minister stated that the policy is not intended to reduce national legal sovereignty and was prepared in coordination with the Supreme Court. Those are statements about a bill, not provisions of an enacted law.

What we have not been able to verify

• Where. We have not found an official instrument designating a PFII area. Public statements about possible sites are not a designation.
• Who qualifies, and for what. We have not verified the provisions on eligibility, tax rates, residence, the PFII court or the council's powers.
• When. We have not found an official date on which a PFII starts operating.

If you are in Bali now: what to verify before you act

• A land or villa deal marketed as "near the financial centre". Ask for the official instrument that designates the area, and check whether it supports the benefit claimed. Then check the property itself as you would any purchase: title, zoning, access and the seller's authority. See the property due diligence checklist.
• A change of tax residence or a new structure. Article 248A sets no rate and no conditions. Take tax advice on the official texts once they can be read, not on headline rates.
• A contract, visa or return tied to the PFII. Do not rely only on PFII announcements when committing funds or signing. Ask which article of which regulation the other side relies on, and read it.
• Your existing arrangements. Article 248A contains no provision on villa leases, land titles, PT PMA licences or the courts that hear ordinary disputes. This guide does not establish whether the separate PFII law or other legislation affects them; that can only be answered from the official text.

The honest take

The financial centre exists in Indonesian law at the level of principle: Article 248A commits the Government to establishing it and provides special tax treatment for business in it. The questions that matter to an individual investor or property owner — where, who qualifies, what tax, which visa, which court — depend on texts we have not yet been able to read and verify. Until they can be read, treat announcements as announcements. We will update this guide when the official texts are available.

General information only, not legal advice for your situation. No result is guaranteed. Speak to a lawyer about your specific facts.