Government denies reports on offshore debts
JAKARTA (JP): The government denied press reports yesterday that Indonesia's offshore debt could total US$200 billion, saying the amount was exaggerated.
Bank Indonesia said in a statement that the country's offshore debt stood at $118 billion last September, consisting of $52.4 billion in government debt and $65.6 billion in private-sector debt.
Meanwhile, rupiah-denominated securities held by nonresidents, including Bank Indonesia Certificates (SBI), bonds, promissory notes, commercial papers, certificates of deposit and medium-term notes, stood at $15.3 billion as of September, down from $21.2 billion in June.
"These figures are taken from surveys of custodian banks and have been synchronized with figures from the team from the International Monetary Fund," Bank Indonesia director Boediono said.
A researcher at Indosuez, Michael Taylor, was quoted by Kompas daily as saying the government's figure was underestimated as it did not include debt from commercial papers.
Taylor estimated that if debt from commercial papers was included, Indonesia's offshore debt could be as high as $200 billion.
Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono questioned Taylor's estimate, saying it was too large.
"You have to see where that number comes from -- I know it's not that big. In a situation like this, you have to be cautious before talking or writing something that is not too clear.
"I don't know what this estimate is based on and I don't know where their responsibilities are," Moerdiono said.
The World Bank's country director for Indonesia, Dennis de Tray, confirmed the government's figure yesterday.
He said that, based on currency-based measures of external debt, Indonesia's foreign exchange-denominated debt was about $117 billion as of September.
In addition, de Tray said the World Bank recognized there was also rupiah-denominated securities held by foreigners and that also constituted a type of obligation.
"The world is beginning to move toward what we call a residency-based measure of foreign debt which included this debt, but at the moment, at least by the World Bank's standard, we do not include this in our standard debt numbers," de Tray told The Jakarta Post.
Based on the World Bank's estimate, the rupiah-based debt -- the commercial paper debt -- was worth between $15 billion and $17 billion.
"If you were to add the foreign exchange-based debt of $117 billion and roughly an additional $15 billion to $17 billion of rupiah-based debt, it would arrive at a number for the total external debt of Indonesia that would be between $130 billion and $135 billion," de Tray said.
"This is much lower than the number which has been reported in the press," de Tray said. (icn/das/rid/riz)