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
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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
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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
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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