Finance Minister: Government declares BLBI debt fully repaid

Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara stated that the obligations for debt securities issued as part of the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) handling during the 1997–1998 crisis were fully settled in August.

“The debt securities issued for the handling of the 97–98 crisis have now been successfully completed as of August. This is also an achievement for us,” Suahasil said, as reported via the Ministry of Finance’s official YouTube channel, as cited in Jakarta on Sunday.

The repayment was carried out using the surplus from Bank Indonesia (BI) that was deposited into the State Treasury.

Suahasil explained that, based on the 2025 audit process, information indicated that Bank Indonesia held a surplus. This surplus from Bank Indonesia was subsequently transferred to the state treasury in accordance with applicable regulations. Consequently, the Ministry of Finance has received revenue from Separated State Wealth (KND) amounting to Rp58 trillion.

“Its use is regulated to pay obligations or settle Indonesian government debt securities. These are the state securities that were issued at that time to handle the 97–98 crisis,” said Suahasil.

Therefore, Suahasil utilised the BI surplus to repay the debt obligations related to the handling of the 1997–1998 crisis.

The settlement of the BLBI-related debt securities follows the repayment of recapitalisation bond obligations, or recap bonds, in July 2020.

“There were several types of bonds we issued during that period (the 1997–1998 crisis). Some were settled in July 2020, and others were settled this past August,” Suahasil added.