Indonesia`s Forex Reserves Rises to US$115.2 Billion

Jakarta, MINA — Indonesia`s foreign exchange reserves rose from some US$400 million to $115.2 billion as of late October 2018 amidst the reversal of the rupiah`s direction to the trend of appreciation against the dollar.

The increase is the first after the foreign exchange reserves fell ninth months in a row, Antara News reported, citing to Bank Indonesia (BI) official website on Wednesday.

“The rise in foreign exchange reserves was fueled by foreign exchange receipts from oil and gas and withdrawal of the government`s foreign loans which exceed foreign exchange needs to repay the government`s foreign debts and stabilize the rupiah`s exchange rate,” the central bank stated.

The foreign exchange reserves in the month ended on Oct 31 is equal to 6.4 months of imports or 6.2 months of imports and repayment of the government`s foreign debts. It is also above the international adequacy standard of three months of imports.

“The central bank believes that the foreign exchange reserves will be able to support the external sector`s resilience and maintain the stability of macro economy and trade system,” BI remarked.

According to BI data, the country`s foreign exchange reserves stood at $131.9 billion in January and fell to $128.06 billion in February due to foreign currency needs to stabilize the rupiah to face external economic pressures.

The foreign exchange reserves fell again by $2.06 billion to $126 billion in March and further moved down by $1.5 billion to $124.9 billion in April.

The foreign exchange reserves stood at $122 billion in May and fell again from $3.1 billion to $119.8 billion in June, and further moved down to $118.5 billion in July.

In August, the foreign exchange reserves dropped from $400 million to $117.9 billion and further moved down from $3.1 billion to $114.8 billion in late September. . (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)