Finance Minister Purbaya Targets Panda Bond Issuance Next Month

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has targeted the issuance of global debt securities denominated in Yuan, or Panda Bonds, to be realised in June 2026.

He stated that he has received a report from the Director General of Risk Management and Financing at the Ministry of Finance, Suminto, to depart for China soon.

“Possibly next month (for the Panda Bond issuance), but Mr Suminto has invited me to China,” Purbaya told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The Finance Minister explained that issuing Panda Bonds is a strategy for diversifying financing to make the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) more robust by not depending on a single source.

For the record, budget financing realisation was recorded at Rp257.4 trillion as of 31 March 2026. This value consists of debt financing of Rp258.7 trillion and non-debt financing of Rp1.3 trillion.

“We continue to diversify so as not to depend on financing from the United States or Western countries,” he added.

He continued that China has adequate liquidity and a large-capacity financial market, so it is believed to be able to absorb Indonesian government debt instruments.

In addition, China’s financial market also offers competitive yields ranging from 2.3 percent to 2.5 percent.

He also stated that he has met with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), where China expressed readiness to participate in the Panda Bond issuance.

“We have already engaged with ICBC; they are ready to proceed,” he said.

As a reciprocal gesture to the intention of issuing Panda Bonds, the Indonesian Government is also opening opportunities for China to issue debt securities or bonds in the domestic market.

This option emerged in bilateral discussions between Finance Minister Purbaya and Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo’an on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings from 13 to 17 April in Washington, DC, United States.

According to the Finance Minister, this step can provide opportunities for Indonesian investors to access Chinese debt instruments, while expanding financial cooperation between the two countries.