Government Holds 100 Percent DHE Fund, Kadin Hopes To Pay Attention To Exporters' Liquidity

Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Anindya Novyan Bakrie (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The government plans to hold the foreign exchange of exports (DHE) to 100 percent for a year positively to increase foreign exchange reserves and strengthen the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar.

Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Anindya Novyan Bakrie hopes that the government will also pay attention to the liquidity and investment needs of exporters so that this policy that has good goals is not counterproductive to the business world.

"The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) supports all efforts by the government to strengthen the national economy. The purpose of DHE's detention is to strengthen the rupiah exchange rate so that it is not too volatile. Moreover, our foreign exchange reserves are not large," he said in a press statement, Thursday, January 23.

However, Anin conveyed that the liquidity needs of exporters also need to be considered because if exporters need foreign exchange to import raw materials and capital goods for investment, liquidity must also be available and needs to be maintained so that they are not harmed.

"The exporters are also importers, especially business actors engaged in the manufacturing industry," he explained.

Anin said exporters also need rupiah for domestic needs so that with the detention of DHE for one year, exporters need to get a profitable solution when they need rupiah.

According to him, if business actors experience difficulty with liquidity and investment funds for business expansion, exports will be disrupted in the future.

Anin conveyed that as government partners, business actors, including exporters, who are members of Kadin, play an active role in driving national development, realizing 8 percent economic growth, expanding their business, and creating new jobs.

Until now, Anin said private business actors plan to get bigger involved in infrastructure development, the agricultural sector for food security, and upstream to downstream industries.

According to him, do not let the big collaboration plan of the government-private-BUMN be disrupted by policies that are not supportive.

"We are sure that the government will make policies that benefit all parties for the sake of employment, stability, and economic growth," said Anin.

Anin hopes that the incentives that the government is preparing in the revision of the new PP on DHE will provide benefits for all parties. Foreign exchange reserves are increasing, but exporters are not disadvantaged.

In foreign exchange trading, Wednesday, January 22, the rupiah was at the level of IDR 16,322 per US dollar. Bank Indonesia's foreign exchange (BI) reserves in December 2024 amounted to 155.7 billion US dollars, an increase from 135.9 billion US dollars in 2020.

Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves from Thailand and Singapore in the same period, respectively, US$237 billion and US$506.7 billion.

In 2024, Indonesia's exports amounted to USD 264.7 billion, up slightly from 2023, but down from USD 292.9 billion in 2022, when the pandemic was still hitting most parts of the world.

As for 2024, Singapore's exports amounted to 515 billion US dollars, Vietnam 453.7 billion US dollars, Malaysia 312.96 US dollars, and Thailand 280 billion US dollars.