Government Pays Foreign Debt, Foreign Exchange Reserves Shrink 4.2 Billion US Dollars

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI) is said to have just released the latest data on foreign exchange reserves until the end of July 2022 which amounted to 132.2 billion US dollars.

Head of the BI Communications Department Erwin Haryono said that this number decreased when compared to the position at the end of June 2022 of 136.4 billion US dollars. This means that there is a depreciation of about 4.2 billion US dollars in one calendar month.

"The decline in the position of foreign exchange reserves in July 2022 was influenced, among other things, by the payment of government foreign debt and the need to stabilize the rupiah exchange rate in line with the high uncertainty in global financial markets," he said in a press statement today, Friday, August 5.

Despite the decline, Erwin ensured that the current amount of foreign exchange reserves owned by Indonesia was still more than sufficient to support national economic activities.

This is indicated by the ability to finance 6.2 months of imports or 6.1 months of imports and payment of government external debt, and is above the international adequacy standard of around 3 months of imports.

"Bank Indonesia assesses that the foreign exchange reserves are able to support external sector resilience and maintain macroeconomic and financial system stability," he said.

Erwin added that the monetary authority would continue to monitor the latest condition of foreign exchange reserves for the sake of the sustainability of the national economy.

"Going forward, Bank Indonesia views that foreign exchange reserves will remain adequate, supported by stability and maintained economic prospects, along with various policy responses to maintain macroeconomic and financial system stability to support the national economic recovery process," he concluded.