Indonesia's Foreign Exchange Reserves Fell in October 2017

Forex reseeves fell to USD $126.5 billion at the end of October 2017, BI said.

Jakarta, MINA – Bank Indonesia, the central bank of Indonesia, said the country’s official foreign exchange reserves fell to USD $126.5 billion at the end of October 2017 (from the all-time record high level of USD $129.4 billion at the end of the preceding month), Indonesia-Investments reported.

The drop in Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserves was primarily caused by the use of foreign exchange to repay government external debt and stabilize the rupiah exchange rate in accordance with its fundamentals.

Thirdly, the decline in foreign exchange assets was also attributed to local banks’ lower foreign currency term deposits at Bank Indonesia. This occurred as Indonesian companies (and residents) had to repay their foreign currency liabilities.

Bank Indonesia emphasized that it remains optimistic about domestic economic conditions, particularly due to the nation’s improved export performance, while global financial market developments remained conducive.

The current level of Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserves is sufficient to finance 8.6 months of imports or 8.3 months of imports and servicing of government external debt repayments, which is well above the international standards of reserves adequacy at three months of imports.

As such, Bank Indonesia believes the reserve assets position is able to support the external sector resilience and maintain the sustainability of Indonesian economic growth. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

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