JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI) recorded the growth of Indonesia's external debt in November 2019 at 8.3% year on year (yoy) to US$ 401.4 billion, consisting of public (government and central bank) external debt of US$ 201.4 billion and private (including SOEs) external debt of US$ 200.1 billion. The growth slowed from the previous month's growth of 12% yoy.
Government debt in November 2019 grew 10.1% yoy to US$ 198.6 billion, slowing from the previous month's growth of 13.6% yoy. Government external debt management was prioritised to finance development, with the largest allocation to the public health and social activities sectoor with 19%, followed by construction (16.5%); education (16.1%); government administration, defence, and mandatory social security (15.4%); and financial services and insurance (13.4%).
Meanwhile, private external debt in the period grew 6.9% yoy, slower than the previous month's growth of 10.7% yoy. By sector, Indonesia's private external debt was dominated by the financial services and insurance sector; electricity, gas, hot steam/water, and air supply; processing industry; and mining and quarrying.
BI views that the structure of Indonesia's external debt remains healthy, supported by the application of the precautionary principle in its management. "This condition is reflected in, among others, the ratio of Indonesia's external debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in November 2019 of 35.9%, relatively stable compared to the ratio in the previous month," BI wrote in an official statement received by IDNFinancials.com, Wednesday (15/1).
"In addition, Indonesia's external debt structure remains dominated by long-term external debt with a share of 88.5% of total external debt." (MS)