Indonesia forex reserves hit record high at end-August

JAKARTA

Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves rose to $137 billion by the end of August, a record high.

“The number has increased by $1.9 billion from $135.1 billion last year,” said Onny Widjanarjo, the head of Bank Indonesia’s communication department on Monday.

He explained that the increase was mainly due to government foreign loans, tax collection, and proceeds from oil and gas.

Widjanarjoy also said the bank assessed that the foreign exchange reserves could support the resilience of the external sector and maintain macroeconomic and financial system stability.

"The position of foreign reserves is equivalent to financing 9.4 months of imports or 9.0 months of imports and servicing of government foreign debt and well above the international adequacy standard of three months of import," he added.

*Writing by Maria Elisa Hospita from Anadolu Agency's Indonesian language service