JAKARTA: The Governor of Bank Indonesia Agus DW Martowardjojo mentioned that Indonesia’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves as of the end of May 2017 hit record highs at $124.95 billion.
“Foreign exchange reserves are also now holding the highest record, due to record highs in last August 2011,” said Agus in his office on Friday (6/9/2017).
The position of foreign exchange reserves at the end of May 2017 is sufficient to finance 8.9 months of imports or 8.6 months of imports and repayment of government foreign debt, and is above the international standard of approximately three months of imports.
The foreign exchange reserves in great amount show strong resilience to the Indonesian economy, especially when there is external turmoil.
“It’s one of our endurance forms. The exchange rate is also stable,” he said.
One of the challenges in the near future is the possibility of interest rates hike by the United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed), which is scheduled to occur in mid-June.
“We will take care of our economic fundamentals. We see especially after Indonesia can obtain investment grade from Standard and Poor’s, that confident to Indonesia continues to build,” he concluded.
