Indonesia's Foreign Debt Reaches 423.4 Billion US Dollars As Of October 2O24

JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI) recorded Indonesia's Foreign Debt (ULN) in October 2024 of US$423.4 billion, down compared to the external debt position in September 2024 which amounted to US$428.5 billion.

Executive Director of the Communication Department, Ramdan Denny Prakoso, said that on an annual basis, Indonesia's external debt grew 7.7 percent (yoy), decreased compared to 8.5 percent in September 2024.

"The decline comes from external debt in the public and private sectors," he said in his statement, Monday, December 16.

Denny conveyed that the government's external debt position in October 2024 was recorded at 201.1 billion US dollars, down compared to the position in September 2024 which was recorded at 204.1 billion US dollars. On an annual basis, the government's external debt recorded growth of 8.6 percent (yoy).

"The decline in the position of government external debt comes from the decline in the position of loans and debt securities," he said.

Meanwhile, the position of private external debt was recorded at USD 195.1 billion in October 2024, lower than USD 196.7 billion in September 2024. On an annual basis, private external debt experienced a growth contraction of 1.4 percent (yoy).

"The external growth contraction comes from financial companies (financial corporates) and not financial institutions (non-financial companies), each of which has a contraction of 3.1 percent (yoy) and 0.9 percent (yoy)," he explained.

Denny conveyed that the structure of Indonesia's external debt remains healthy, supported by the application of the precautionary principle in its management. This is reflected in the ratio of Indonesia's external debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which fell to 30.4 percent in October 2024 from 31.1 percent in September 2024, and was dominated by long-term external debt with a share of 84.5 percent of total external debt.

According to Denny, in order to keep the external debt structure healthy, Bank Indonesia and the Government continue to strengthen coordination in monitoring the development of external debt.

"The role of external debt will also continue to be optimized to support development financing and encourage sustainable national economic growth. These efforts are carried out by minimizing risks that can affect economic stability," he said.