Forex reserves fall by US$16.10m

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's net foreign exchange reserves dropped by US$16 million to $29.091 billion in the week ending on Feb. 23 from $29.107 billion in the previous week, Bank Indonesia said in its weekly report.

The central bank attributed the drop to foreign debt payment and payment of haj pilgrims' travel expenses.

The volume of primary money rose by Rp 3.86 trillion to Rp 102.77 trillion due to an increase in the circulation of bank notes and coins.

The central bank said its market operation such as through the auction of its promissory notes had caused an expansion of about Rp 571 billion in the money supply.

It said the government's account at the central bank dropped by Rp 3.12 trillion, partly due to payments of civil servants' salaries and coupons for bank recapitalization bonds.

The central bank said net domestic assets during the week rose by Rp 4.30 trillion to minus Rp 23.24 trillion.