Sri Mulyani Keeps Promise, Government's Foreign Debt Drops Rp29 Trillion By Year-End

JAKARTA - The government through the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) released information that the position of government debt as of the end of October 2021 was at IDR 6,687.28 trillion, equivalent to 39.69 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

This book is lower than the position in September 2021 which was Rp. 6,711.52 trillion or 41.38 percent of GDP.

"This decrease was partly due to a decrease in debt from Foreign Currency Government Securities by Rp. 13.85 trillion and a decrease in loans by Rp. 15.26 trillion," said the November 2021 edition of the APBN Kita report, quoted by the editorial team on Thursday, December 2.

Through these records, it can be seen that the government's foreign debt decreased by around Rp. 29 trillion during the period throughout October.

For information, earlier this week the Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani said that the government as far as possible avoided issuing State Securities (SBN) abroad for the upcoming 2022 period. The decision was conveyed by the Minister of Finance after meeting with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta.

According to the Minister of Finance, this step cannot be separated from the government's projections of the continuing uncertainty in foreign financial markets.

"We will continue to maintain financing carefully because next year there will be several global dynamics that we must be aware of," he said through a virtual channel.

Furthermore, the latest debt position as of October 2021 which amounted to IDR 6,687.28 trillion consists of IDR 5,878.69 trillion in SBN (domestic IDR 4,611.66 trillion and foreign currency IDR 1,267.03 trillion).

And loans of IDR 808.59 trillion (domestic loans of IDR 12.41 trillion and foreign loans of IDR 796.18 trillion).

"The role of financing that is present to support the government and society in facing extraordinary conditions will continue to be carried out prudently while still taking into account the government's ability to pay so that it will not burden the people in the future," reads the release of our State Budget.