Presidential Special Envoy for Energy and Environment Hashim Djojohadikusumo, at the China Conference Southeast Asia 2026 forum at the St Regis Jakarta, Tuesday (10/2) evening, highlighted the practice of stock price manipulation, also known as "fried shares."
In a question and answer session, Hashim expressed his surprise at the attempts of certain parties to artificially increase share prices through engineered transactions, thus creating the impression that the shares were of high value.
"There's a term in Indonesian called 'fried stocks'. That means manipulating stock prices," he said during an online session at the China Conference Southeast Asia.
Hashim believes that certain parties are deliberately pushing up share prices unreasonably through engineered transactions, thus giving the impression that the shares have a high value.
He also highlighted the sharp rise in shares of small companies without adequate business performance, as an indication of irregularities that need to be addressed immediately.
"Apparently, there is a stock with a price to earnings (PE) ratio of 167, another 300, another 1,200 times, and another 4,000 times," he said.
Hashim then compared this phenomenon with established companies supported by solid business fundamentals and strong cash flow, such as Astra International (ASII).
"Compare that to Astra, which has a PE ratio of around eight times. Then look at NVIDIA, which is certainly well-known. NVIDIA's PE ratio is probably around 60 times," he said.
