Paying Debt And Stabilizing Rupiah, Foreign Exchange Reserves Drop To 134.9 Billion US Dollars

JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia reported the position of Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves at the end of September 2023 amounting to 134.9 billion US dollars.

Head of the BI Communications Department Erwin Haryono said this amount was observed to have fallen from the position at the end of August of 137.1 billion US dollars.

"The decline in the position of foreign exchange reserves is influenced, among other things, by the payment of government foreign debt and the need for stabilization of the Rupiah exchange rate as a measure to anticipate the impact of the increase in global financial market uncertainty," he said in a statement to the media, Friday, October 6.

Erwin revealed that the shrinkage was equivalent to financing 6.1 months of imports or 6.0 months of imports and payment of government foreign debt, and was above the international adequacy standard of about 3 months of imports.

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

In the future, he said, Bank Indonesia views that foreign exchange reserves will remain adequate, supported by stability and maintained economic prospects, in line with the policy mix response taken by Bank Indonesia in maintaining macroeconomic and financial system stability to support sustainable economic growth.