Indonesia's Foreign Exchange Reserves Increase to US$139.4 Billion in January 2023

Bank Indonesia (BI) reported that Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves at the end of January 2023 reached US$139.4 billion. This figure is higher than the position at the end of December 2022, which was US$137.2 billion.

"The increase in foreign exchange reserves in January 2023 was influenced by the issuance of government global bonds and tax and service receipts," said Erwin Haryono, Executive Director and Head of BI's Communication Department, in an official statement on Tuesday (February 7, 2023).

Erwin stated that the foreign exchange reserves are equivalent to 6.1 months of import financing or six months of import and government foreign debt payments. Furthermore, Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves are above the international adequacy standard of around three months of imports.

Bank Indonesia assesses that these reserves are sufficient to support external sector resilience and maintain macroeconomic and financial system stability. Looking ahead, Erwin said the central bank expects foreign exchange reserves to remain adequate.

This, Erwin continued, is supported by the maintenance of economic stability and prospects, along with various policy responses in maintaining macroeconomic and financial system stability to support the national economic recovery process.

Over the past three years, Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves have shown a fluctuating trend. This is illustrated in the chart above.

The highest level of Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves in the last three years was in September 2021 at US$146.9 billion, while the lowest was in March 2020 at US$121 billion.

The foreign exchange reserves at the end of last month represent the highest position in the last 11 months, since February 2022, when they reached US$141.4 billion.