JAKARTA: Bank Indonesia (BI) has spent a significant amount of money on stabilizing the rupiah, leading the foreign exchange reserve in September to drop US$3.6 billion to $101.7 billion, lower than the previous month at $105.3 billion.
“This development was attributable to the use of foreign exchange for servicing government foreign debt payments and stabilizing the rupiah exchange,” said BI’s communications department executive director Tirta Segara.
The situation, Tirta explained, was consistent with BI’s commitment to always be in the market to guard the rupiah in line with its fundamental value, to support macroeconomic and financial system stability.
Tirta said the official reserve was adequate to cover seven months of imports or 6.8 months of imports and pay the government’s foreign debt interest. It is well above the international standard of reserve adequacy at three months of imports.
BI perceived that the September reserve was enough to strengthen monetary resiliency against external factors, and maintain sustainable growth in the internal economy.
