Jakarta. Government will improve and standardize its export management so that its export revenue can be used to increase the country’s foreign exchange reserves which are recently decreasing. Vice President Jusuf Kalla stated this in a press conference after Jummah prayer at his office in Jakarta on Feb 12.
The decreasing foreign exchange reserves, he added, are caused by the fact that many companies pay off their debt.
“Government also has to pay off its debt which is usually due at the beginning or the end of the year,” he said.
To secure the reserves, Mr Kalla underscored the importance of reducing importing commodities to make the need of the green bucks controllable and rupiah’s movement stay positive.
Referring to the record of Bank Indonesia, the foreign exchange reserves decreased by USD3.8 billion to USD102.1 billion in the end of January 2016, from USD105.9 billion in the end of December 2015.
That amount is deemed sufficient to finance import for 7.5 months of imports, or the next 7.2 months of imports and foreign-debt payment, or above the international sufficiency standard of three months.
Bank Indonesia viewed these reserves are able to support external sector resilience and to sustain the country’s economic growth.
In the meantime, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Presiden Takehiko Nakao believed the Indonesia’ foreign exchange reserves are getting better with the stable Rupiah’s position.
Based on its data, ADB assumed Indonesia does not need additional loans from the existing debt that is USD 10 billion within the next five years.
