"The decline in forex reserves was caused by the maturity of the government's foreign debt payments," said Erwin Haryono, BI's Head of Communications Department, on Wednesday.
He remarked that the forex reserves were equivalent to financing 6.6 months of imports, or 6.4 months of imports and payment of government foreign debt, and were above international adequacy standards for around three months of imports.
The central bank assessed that forex reserves are capable of supporting the resilience of the external sector and maintaining macroeconomic and financial system stability.
It also considers that forex reserves will remain adequate, supported by stability and maintained economic prospects.
This is also in line with the synergy of policy mix responses taken by BI and the government in maintaining macroeconomic and financial system stability to support sustainable economic growth.
In addition, Indonesia's trade balance surplus also continued in December 2023 at US$3.31 billion, higher than the surplus of US$2.41 billion in November 2023.
BI assessed this development as positive for further supporting the external resilience of the Indonesian economy.
Indonesia's trade balance during the January-December 2023 period recorded a surplus of US$36.93 billion, continuing the surplus of US$54.46 billion achieved during the same period in 2022.
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Translator: Martha Herlinawati Simanjuntak, Katriana
Editor: Anton Santoso
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