JAKARTA. Indonesia's external debt rose 4.8% year on year (yoy) to US$404.7 billion as of May, higher than the April growth of 2.9%.
According to Bank Indonesia (BI), the debt consisted of public debt (the government and the central bank) amounting to US$194.9 billion and private debt (including state-owned enterprises) amounting to US$209.9 billion.
In an official statement on Friday (17/7), BI said the increase of external debt was influenced by net withdrawal transactions in both government and private debts. The strengthening of the US dollar exchange rate against the rupiah also contributed to the increase of external debt in rupiah.
Indonesia's external debt ratio against its GDP as of late May was recorded at 36.6%, slightly up from the previous month's ratio of 36.2%. Nevertheless, the country's external debt structure was still dominated by long-term debt which made up 89.0% of the total amount. (AM/MS)