JAKARTA. The foreign exchange (forex) reserves of Indonesia by the end of January 2022 amounted to USD 141.3 billion. It was lower than the position recorded in December 2021 of USD 144.9 billion. This decrease occurred due to the government’s need to pay back foreign debts.
Erwin Haryono, Head of Communication Department of Bank Indonesia (BI), reassured that the current forex reserves are still above the international adequacy standard of approximately three months of import activities. “The said forex reserves are equivalent to 7.6 months import or 7.4 months of import plus foreign debts settlement,” he explained in a press release yesterday (8/2).
Furthermore, Haryono said that the declining forex reserves resulted from the obligation to pay back the government’s foreign loans and the decrease in foreign currency placements in BI. The latter is a result of anticipating the need for liquidity of foreign currencies as the economic activities recover.
BI saw forex reserves as sufficient. They are also supported by the stability and well-maintained economic prospects following several policies as a response to boost the economic recovery. (AM/ZH)