Indonesia's Foreign Debt Quarter IV 2024 Reaches 424.8 Billion US Dollars

Illustration (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI) reported that Indonesia's Foreign Debt (ULN) position in the fourth quarter of 2024 was recorded at US$424.8 billion, down from the external debt position in the third quarter of 2024 which was recorded at US$428.1 billion.

Executive Director of the BI Communication Department, Ramdan Denny Prakoso, said that Indonesia's Foreign Debt (ULN) in the fourth quarter of 2024 decreased.

On an annual basis, he said, Indonesia's external debt grew 4 percent (yoy), but slowed down when compared to the third quarter of 2024 which grew 8.3 percent (yoy).

"The decline in the external debt position comes from public and private sector external debt," he said in his statement, Monday, February 17.

Denny said the development of the position of external debt in the fourth quarter of 2024 was also influenced by the factor of strengthening the US dollar against the majority of global currencies, including Rupiah.

The government's external debt position in the fourth quarter of 2024 was recorded at USD 203.1 billion, down from the position in the third quarter of 2024 of USD 204.1 billion.

Meanwhile, on an annual basis, government external debt grew to slow down to 3.3 percent (yoy) from 8.4 percent (yoy) in the third quarter of 2024.

The decline in the position of government external debt came from the decline in the position of debt securities influenced by the strengthening of the US dollar currency.

Meanwhile, foreign loans and foreign capital inflows in international and domestic Government Securities (SBN) still record net inflows as investors maintain investor confidence in Indonesia's economic prospects.

Meanwhile, private external debt in the fourth quarter of 2024 amounted to 194.1 billion US dollars, or lower than the position in the third quarter of 2024 of 196.3 billion US dollars.

On an annual basis, private external debt contracted growth by 2.2 percent (yoy), deeper than in the third quarter of 2024 of 0.6 percent (yoy).

Denny said that the development of the external companies came from financial companies and non-financial companies, each of which experienced a contraction of 2.5 percent (yoy) and 2.1 percent (yoy).

According to him, 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 the fourth quarter of 2024, from 31.1 percent in the third quarter of 2024, and dominated by long-term external debt with a share of 84.8 percent of total external debt.

Denny conveyed that 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.