BI Says SRBI Instruments Will Still Be Used

Illustration (Photo: Doc Antara)

JAKARTA Bank Indonesia (BI) mengungkapkan pihaknya akan tetap menerbitkan Sekuritas rupiah BI (SRBI) hingga waktu yang belum ditentukan.

This is in order to strengthen the stability of the rupiah exchange rate and as an effort to deepen the money and foreign exchange market to encourage foreign capital inflows into the country.

Assistant Governor and Head of the BI Communication Department Erwin Haryono said that in addition to issuing a State Budget Letter (SBN), the central bank will continue to issue SRBI instruments for an undetermined time.

"Unless in time, I don't know when, SBN is sufficient, so BI no longer needs to issue SRBI. Until that time, SRBI will still be used," he said in a Media Taklimat, Tuesday, September 24.

Erwin hopes that in the future Indonesia can follow like developed countries that only issue state debt securities.

To note, Bank Indonesia issued SRBI last year because of several supply issues followed by the issuance of Bank Indonesia's Valas Securities (SVBI) and Bank Indonesia's Sukuk Valas (SUVBI).

The SRBI, SVBI, and SUVBI instruments have become pro-market monetary operations to strengthen policy effectiveness in attracting foreign capital inflows and supporting strengthening the rupiah exchange rate.

As of September 17, 2024, the position of SRBI, SVBI, and SUVBI instruments was recorded at Rp918.42 trillion, US$2.95 billion, and US$280 million, respectively.

The issuance of SRBI has supported efforts to increase the entry flow of foreign portfolios into the country and strengthen the rupiah exchange rate.

Non-resident ownership in SRBI reached IDR 246.08 trillion or 26.79 percent of the total outstanding.

The implementation of Primary Dealer (PD) since May 2024 has also further increased SRBI transactions in the secondary market and repurchase agreement (repo) between market actors, thereby strengthening the effectiveness of monetary instruments in stabilizing the rupiah exchange rate and controlling inflation.

On the same occasion, Head of the Financial Market Interiorment Department Donny Hutabarat said that the existence of SRBI would be longlasting or long-lasting because of the liquidity formed and the effectiveness achieved was quite efficient in stabilizing the rupiah.

"SRBI will be longlasting, but later the variation of the strategy will be adjusted to the context of the challenges faced," he said.