Bank Indonesia foreign reserves up

Bank Indonesia foreign reserves up

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Indonesia (BI) announced yesterday that its
net international reserves (NIR) as of May 22 totaled US$14.69
billion, an increase of $58.5 million against the previous week's
level of $14.63 billion.

The central bank said in a statement that with the increase,
the NIR position was higher than the minimum level allowed by the
IMF.

BI also said that its gross foreign assets as of May 22
totaled $19.10 billion or a slight increase against the position
of the previous week's level of $19.04 billion.

The increase resulted mainly from investments in foreign notes
and a larger amount of export claims, the bank added.

BI's net domestic assets (NDA) were valued at minus Rp 32.58
trillion (US$3.10 billion) as of May 22, indicating a monetary
contraction of Rp 1.77 trillion against the previous week's
level.

The central bank said that the contraction was caused by open
market operations, net claims on the government, and increasing
net claims on IBRA (Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency) and
credit liquidity.

The May 22 level was still within the maximum limits allowed
by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the bank said.

An open market operation which was mainly done through the
selling of Bank Indonesia's short-term promissory notes (SBIs)
and rupiah intervention resulted in a significant contraction of
Rp 9.40 trillion compared to the previous week's level, it said.

The contraction sent the net position of the open market
operation as of May 22 to a negative Rp 43.26 trillion.

BI's net claim on the government during the same period
contributed to a contraction of Rp 6.04 trillion causing a
negative of Rp 37.82 trillion, the bank said.

This was due to factors including tax revenue, increasing
foreign loans and oil revenue.

BI's net claim on IBRA was Rp 102.55 trillion, an increase of
3.71 trillion compared to the previous week's level of Rp 98.84
trillion, the central bank said.

The increase was mainly related to the withdrawal of
depositors' money from closed down banks and other banks outside
those supervised by IBRA.

The amount of liquidity injection for banks which were not
supervised by IBRA also increased significantly due to large
withdrawals by depositors following the recent political unrest,
the bank said.

BI also said that the reserve money as of May 22 reached Rp
70.26 trillion, a decline of Rp 1.36 trillion compared to the
previous week's level.

The decline was reflected in an increase in paper and coin
money in circulation by Rp 3.22 trillion to reach Rp 46.58
trillion, which was due to the recent rioting. (rei)

Table A: Foreign Reserves (in million dollars)

May 8 May 15 May 22

---------------------------------------------------------------

Gross foreign assets 19,026.1 19,037.0 19,097.2

- Liquid reserves * 12,523.7 12,508.4 12,535.3

- Other reserves ** 6,502.4 6,528.6 6,561.9

Gross foreign liabilities 3,921.2 3,921.2 3,921.2

Net forward positions -34.0 -34.0 -34.0

Reserve against

foreign currency deposits 485.1 448.7 450.4

---------------------------------------------------------------

Net international reserves 14,585.8 14,633.1 14,691.6

* Liquid gross foreign assets include gold, foreign
securities, offshore deposits and special drawing rights.

** Other gross foreign assets include export drafts, deposits
in the branches of domestic banks in offshores and deposits
parked at foreign banks to guarantee letter of credits.

Table B: Monetary Indicators (in billion rupiah)

May 8 May 15 May 22

-----------------------------------------------------------

Reserve money 60,801 71,620 70,262

- Currency in circulation 43,871 43,360 46,579

- Deposits at central bank 16,039 27,303 22,736

Net international reserves

(Rupiah at constant rate) 102,101 102,432 102,841

(in million dollars) 14,585.8 14,633.1 14,691.6

Net domestic assets -40,361 -30,812 -32,579

- Net claims on government -30,086 -31,779 -37,817

- Net claims on IBRA 101,400 98,835 102,550

- Liquidity credits 27,141 17,897 17,900

(of which to Bulog) 15,663 6,403 6,403

- Open market operations -45,174 -33,903 -43,261

Source: Bank Indonesia