BI Reveals Indonesia's Foreign Debt Drops In October 2023

JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI) noted that Indonesia's foreign debt (ULN) position in October 2023 was 392.2 billion US dollars or a decrease compared to the position of external debt in September 2023 which amounted to 394.4 billion US dollars.

Executive Director, Head of the BI Communication Department Erwin Haryono revealed that the decline in external debt was mainly sourced from public sector external debt.

"The government's external debt position in October 2023 was USD 185.1 billion, down from USD 188.3 billion in the previous month," Erwin said.

On an annual basis, government external debt grew by 3.0 percent (yoy), slowing down compared to last month's 3.3 percent (yoy).

The decline in the government's external debt position was mainly influenced by the transfer of non-reciident investor funds to the domestic securities market (SBN) to other instruments in line with the increasing volatility in the global financial market.

Meanwhile, Private external debt in October 2023 was recorded at 196.9 billion US dollars, up slightly from 196.7 billion US dollars in the previous month.

On an annual basis, private external debt contracted growth by 2.5 percent (yoy) again, continuing its contraction last month by 3.5 percent (yoy).

The external companies' growth contraction comes from financial companies and non-financial companies, each of which has a contraction of 2.4 percent (yoy) and 2.5 percent (yoy).

Furthermore, total external debt in October 2023 was recorded to grow 0.6 percent on an annual basis compared to the position in October 2022.