During Jokowi-JK's Three Years in Office, BI's Foreign Exchange Reserves Reach Record High

Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves at the end of 2017 reached US$129.4 billion, or approximately Rp1,747 trillion at an exchange rate of Rp13,500 per US dollar. This means that Bank Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves increased by approximately Rp176 trillion, or 11.21 percent, compared to the end of 2016.

This amount of Bank Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves is also the highest ever recorded in the central bank's history. Unfortunately, this achievement was not due to improved export performance, but rather to government loan drawdowns and debt issuance.

These central bank reserves are sufficient to finance 8.9 months of imports or 8.6 months of imports and government foreign debt payments. This figure is far above the international adequacy standard of approximately 3 months of imports.