Banks' reserves at BI jumps to Rp 19.79t
JAKARTA (JP): Commercial banks' deposits with Bank Indonesia (BI) expanded by Rp 1.3 trillion (US$120 million) to Rp 19.79 trillion in the week ending Sept. 30.
The central bank said in its latest weekly report that the increase reflected an improvement in the liquidity of the country's commercial banks.
BI also said that the central bank's net claim on the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) during the last week of September declined by Rp 566 billion to Rp 141.6 trillion on the back of repayments made by several banks under the agency's supervision.
The central bank's gross foreign reserves during the same period dropped by US$68.3 million to $20.5 billion, it added.
It also said that net international reserves (NIR) declined by $66.5 million to $14 billion, mainly due to servicing the interest of government foreign debt and selling some dollars for the rupiah to sterilize liquidity in the wake of greater government spending.
BI added, however, the Sept. 30 NIR level was still above the IMF adjusted NIR target of $12.51 billion.
The central bank also said that net domestic assets, which rose to minus Rp 70.2 trillion during the week, was still below the IMF target of minus Rp 55.3 trillion.
The increase in the NDA level primarily resulted from a Rp 436 billion rise in Bank Indonesia liquidity credit for food availability and a Rp 4.4 trillion enlargement in BI's net claims on the government, partly for servicing the interest of its foreign debt, the central bank explained.
BI also announced on Friday that the maximum interest rate guaranteed by the government for the period Oct. 5 to Oct 1 was 66 percent for one-month deposits, down one percentage point from 67 percent per annum in the previous week.
The rate ceilings for other time deposits were unchanged except for interbank lending, which dropped to 52 percent from 56 percent.
The maximum interest rate for rupiah time-deposits of six- month, 12-month, and 24-month duration were unchanged at 50 percent, 48 percent, and 29 percent, respectively.
BI said the maximum interest rate for U.S. dollar deposits also stayed at 15 percent per annum for one-month, three-month, six-month and 12-month deposits, and was unchanged at 18 percent for the 24-month deposit.
The maximum interest rate for the rupiah interbank money market was set at 52 percent, and 14 percent for the dollar interbank money market. (rei)
Table A: Foreign reserves (in million dollars)
Aug.31 Sept. 23 Sept. 30
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Gross foreign assets 19,914.1 20,608.9 20,540.6
- Liquid reserves * - - -
- Other reserves ** - - -
Gross foreign liabilities 5,868.5 5,868.5 5,868.5
Net forward positions 0.0 0.0 0.0
Reserve against
foreign currency deposits 527.9 636.1 634.3
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Net international reserves 13,517.7 14,104.3 14,037.8
* 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 offshore and deposits parked at foreign banks to guarantee letter of credits.
Table B: Monetary indicators (in billion rupiah)
Aug.31 Sept.23 Sept.30
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Reserve money 68,588 67,516 70,214
- Currency in circulation 51,570 48,437 49,728
- Deposits at central bank 16,531 18,501 19,790
Net international reserves
(Rupiah at constant rate) 135,177 141,043 140,378
(in million dollars) 13,517 14,104.3 14,037.8
Net domestic assets -64,139 -73,240 -70,164
- Net claims on government -49,309 -40,085 -35,701
- Net claims on IBRA 141,523 142,121 141,555
- Liquidity credits 18,088 17,244 17,680
(of which to Bulog) 8,131 7,558 7,589
- Open market operations -68,403 -66,285 -67,370
Source: Bank Indonesia