Bank Indonesia's Foreign Exchange Reserves Hit a New Record High

Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves increased by US$1.78 billion in January 2018, reaching a record high of US$131.98 billion (equivalent to Rp1,755.33 trillion). This marks the second consecutive monthly increase since the end of last year, setting a new all-time high for the central bank.

This increase was driven by foreign exchange receipts from taxes, government's share of oil and gas export revenues, government's foreign loan withdrawals, and foreign currency auctions of Bank Indonesia's Securities (SBBI).

These reserves are sufficient to finance 8.5 months of imports or 8.2 months of imports and government's external debt payments. This signifies that Bank Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves exceed the international adequacy standard of approximately 3 months of imports.