Indonesia's September 2022 foreign exchange reserves fell to Rp130.8 trillion amid efforts to maintain the rupiah's value and repay debts.

Bank Indonesia (BI) reported that Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves at the end of September 2022 decreased by 1.06 percent to US$130.8 billion. In August 2022, the domestic foreign exchange reserves were recorded at US$132.2 billion.

The decrease in foreign exchange reserves in September 2022 was influenced by government foreign debt payments and the need to stabilize the rupiah exchange rate. This is in line with the ongoing high uncertainty in the global financial market.

The foreign exchange reserves are equivalent to 5.9 months of import financing or 5.7 months of import and government foreign debt payments, and are above the international adequacy standard of around 3 months of imports. Bank Indonesia assesses that these reserves are sufficient to support external sector resilience and maintain macroeconomic and financial system stability.

Going forward, Bank Indonesia views foreign exchange reserves as remaining adequate, supported by maintained economic stability and prospects, along with various policy responses in maintaining macroeconomic and financial system stability to support the national economic recovery process.

Previously, BI reported that Indonesia's external debt (ULN) at the end of July 2022 reached US$400.4 billion, down from US$403.6 billion in the previous month.

This development occurred due to a decrease in ULN in the public sector (government and central bank) and the private sector. Year-on-year (YoY), the July 2022 ULN position decreased by 4.1 percent, deeper than the 3.2 percent decrease in the previous month.