Illustration (CNN Indonesia / Hesti Rika)

Bank of Indonesia Announced Indonesia's Foreign Exchange to drop USD 4 Billion from Last Month

Jakarta, Indonesia - According to Bank of Indonesia (BI) on Thursday (06/13/2019), Indonesia's foreign exchange fell around USD 4 billion in May 2019 to USD 120.3 billion compared to the previous month, which was USD 124.3 billion, due to the need for government foreign debt payments.

The placement of foreign exchange banks at Bank of Indonesia is also declined to provide the liquidity needs related to the cycle of dividend payments for several foreign companies during the Eid holiday.

Executive Director of Bank of Indonesia (BI) Communication Department, Onny Widjanarko stated on Thursday (6/13) that, the position of foreign exchange reserve in May 2019 reached USD 120.3 billion and still quite high even though it is lower than the position at the end of April 2019 and BI assumed that foreign exchange reserves are able to support the resilience of the external sector, and maintain macroeconomic and financial system stability.

He also added that, the position of foreign exchange reserve is equivalent to financing 6.9 months of imports or 6.7 months of imports and payment of government foreign debt, and it is above the international adequacy standard of around 3 months of imports, making a huge loss for Bank of Indonesia and the economy as well.

Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ekonomi/20190613113534-532-402926/cadangan-devisa-mei-2019-turun-us-4-miliar