JAKARTA: Indonesia’s foreign-exchange reserves increased by $1.9 billion in March due to proceeds from tax collection, state revenue from the oil and gas sector, the issuance of global bonds and the sales of Bank Indonesia foreign exchange bills.
The reserves surged to $121.8 billion last month from $119.9 billion a month earlier, according to a statement issued by the central bank.
“Bank Indonesia believes the official reserve assets are able to strengthen the resilience of the external sector and maintain the sustainability of Indonesian economic growth,” executive director Tirta Segara said.
The reserves are adequate to cover 8.9 months of imports, or 8.6 months of imports and foreign debt payments.
The government raised Rp116 trillion ($8.7 billion) from a bond issuance last month, some of which were bought by foreign entities, according to data from the Ministry of Finance. Indonesia has so far raised Rp266 trillion from bonds since the beginning of the year, or about 39 percent of its target in the state budget.
