The increase of official reserve assets in January 2020 was chiefly reinforced by the government’s global bond issuance, oil & gas foreign exchange receipts, as well as other foreign exchange receiptsJakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's official reserve assets amounted to US$131.7 billion as of January-end 2020, rising from $129.2 billion as of December-end 2019.
The position of official reserve assets was equivalent to finance 7.8 months of imports or 7.5 months of imports and servicing government’s external debt, which is well above the international adequacy standards of three months’ worth of imports, Executive Director of the Bank Indonesia (BI) Communication Department Onny Widjanarko noted in a statement received in Jakarta on Friday.
BI considered that the official reserve assets position was able to support the external sector resilience and maintain macroeconomic and financial system stability.
The increase of official reserve assets in January 2020 was chiefly reinforced by the government’s global bond issuance, oil & gas foreign exchange receipts, as well as other foreign exchange receipts.
Moving forward, BI views that the official reserve assets remain adequate, supported by stability and solid domestic economy prospect.
The Indonesian composite index (IHSG) of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) earlier closed higher on Thursday evening, at 56.17 points, or 0.95 percent, to 5,978.51, owing to positive sentiment in the global market. Meanwhile, the index of the 45 most liquid stocks, or LQ45, rose 11.72 points, or 1.21 percent, to 976.56.
Despite IHSG's positive trend, Indonesia's composite index moved slowly due to the country's economic growth that had declined, from 5.2 percent in Q3 of 2019 to 4.97 in Q4 last year, Binaartha Securities analyst, M. Nafan Aji Gusta Utama, stated in Jakarta, Thursday.
Despite a negative sentiment on the internal front, the positive response in the global market had strengthened the IHSG, largely after the failed impeachment of US President Donald Trump, the analyst added.
On Thursday morning, the IHSG opened higher, at 24.41 points, or 0.41 percent, to 6,002.92.
Before closing, the net foreign buying reached Rp294.72 billion, while 469,357 transactions of 6.46 billion stocks worth Rp7.01 trillion were recorded at Indonesia's stock market today.
During the day, regional markets that strengthened this evening comprised Nikkei, rising 554 points, or 2.38 percent, to 23,873.6; Hang Seng Index that climbed 707 points, or 2.64 percent, to 27,493.7; and Straits Times Index that rose 29.88 points, or 0.93 percent, to 3,230.01.
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Translator: Achmad Buchori, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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