Foreign Exchange Reserves Down Two Months In A Row Of IDR 87 Trillion, BI: Government Pays Debt

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA Bank Indonesia (BI) informed that at the end of May 2023 the number of foreign exchange reserves (cadev) was 139.3 billion dollars.

Head of the BI Communications Department Erwin Haryono said that the decline compared to the position at the end of April 2023 of US$144.2 billion.

"The decline in the position of foreign exchange reserves is influenced, among other things, by the need to pay off government foreign debt and the anticipation of banking foreign exchange liquidity needs in line with the increasing economic activity," he said in a press statement on Friday, June 9.

Meanwhile, the actual decline has occurred since March 2023, aka for two consecutive months. VOI noted that at the close of the first quarter of this year, Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves were 145.2 billion US dollars.

This means that there has been a decrease in foreign payment instruments worth US$5.9 billion or equivalent to Rp. 87.3 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 14,800).

Erwin himself revealed that the current position of foreign exchange reserves is comparable to the financing of 6.1 months of imports or 6.0 months of imports and payment of government foreign debt.

"This is above the international adequacy standard of about 3 months of imports," he said.

Erwin ensured that cadev was able to support the resilience of the external sector and maintain macroeconomic and financial system stability.

"In the future, Bank Indonesia will continue to strengthen the resilience of the external sector in line with the policy mix taken by Bank Indonesia in maintaining macroeconomic stability and the financial system to support sustainable economic growth," Erwin concluded.