Director General of SPSK confirms Panda Bond launch remains on schedule

Acting Director General of Financial Sector Stability and Development at the Ministry of Finance, Herman Saheruddin, has confirmed that the plan to issue Panda Bonds remains on schedule, targeting late June or early July 2026. Herman explained that the licensing process for the Panda Bond issuance is ongoing. During a visit to China last week, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa met with the Governor of the People’s Bank of China, Pan Gongsheng, to discuss accelerating the licensing process. “It is on schedule. We met recently because the licensing must also be submitted to the PBOC,” Herman said in Jakarta on Thursday. According to him, the Chinese central bank responded positively to the Panda Bond plan and is ready to help expedite the necessary processes. However, several administrative stages must still be completed before the issuance can proceed. Finance Minister Purbaya previously stated that the government is targeting a Panda Bond issuance worth USD 1 billion. “Initially, the target is around USD 1 billion, but we will see how the market is. If the market can absorb more, we will increase it, depending on market conditions,” Purbaya said in Beijing on Thursday. The statement was made following a series of meetings with China’s Finance Minister Lan Fo’an, the PBOC, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and several investors during an official visit to China from 16 to 19 June 2026. The government is preparing the Panda Bond issuance as part of a strategy to diversify international financing sources while strengthening rupiah exchange rate stability. Panda Bonds are debt securities issued by governments, multilateral institutions, or foreign companies in China’s domestic bond market, denominated in yuan, allowing them to be marketed directly to investors in mainland China. “In the meeting with the PBOC, we were asked to expedite the submission of licensing documents. The underwriter has not yet submitted them, so the PBOC requested that they be submitted promptly so they can be processed immediately. Their support for this plan is very strong,” Purbaya said.