Indonesia's Foreign Debt as of October 2022 is US$ 390,2 Billion

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesia’s foreign debt (ULN) at the end of October 2022 was recorded at US$ 390.2 billion or the equivalent of Rp. 6,087.1 trillion (exchange rate of Rp.15,600). This figure is down compared to the September 2022 external debt position of US$ 395.2 billion or Rp 6,165.1 trillion.

“This development was caused by a decline in public sector (government and central bank) and private sector external debt. On an annual basis, the October 2022 external debt contracted by 7.6 percent (year on year/yoy), deeper than the contraction in the previous month which by 6.8 percent (yoy),” said the Executive Director of the Communication Department of Bank Indonesia (BI) Erwin Haryono in his press release statement on Thursday.

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Erwin said, the government’s external debt in October 2022 will continue the downward trend. Since March 2022, the position and growth of the Government’s external debt has consistently decreased. The government’s external debt position in October 2022 was US$ 179.7 billion, lower than the previous month’s US$ 182.3 billion.

On an annual basis, the government’s external debt contracted by 12.3 percent (yoy), deeper than the contraction in the previous month which was 11.3 percent (yoy). The decline in government external debt was caused by a shift in the placement of non-resident investors’ funds in domestic government securities (SBN) in line with high uncertainty on global financial markets.

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The loan position also declined due to higher repayment compared to loan drawdowns to support financing of priority programs and projects. The withdrawal of external debt in October 2022 will still be directed at financing the productive sector and efforts will continue to accelerate the National Economic Recovery (PEN) program.

Government external debt support in meeting productive sector financing and priority spending needs includes the health services sector and social activities (24.5 percent) of the total government external debt), the education services sector (16.6 percent), the government administration sector, defense and compulsory social security (15.3 percent), the construction sector (14.2 percent), and the financial services and insurance sector (11.6 percent).

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“The government remains committed to maintaining credibility by fulfilling obligations to pay principal and interest on debt in a timely manner, as well as managing external debt in a prudent, credible and accountable manner. The position of the government’s external debt is relatively secure and controlled considering that almost all of it is long-term external debt with a share of 99%, 9 percent of the government’s total external debt,” said Erwin. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)