Indonesia Needs to Strengthen New Funding Sources to Finance Growth

Head of Economics at Trimegah Sekuritas Indonesia, Fakhrul Fulvian, assesses that Indonesia’s narrative of stability needs to be advanced further towards the ability to finance growth more strategically and sustainably. This is in response to Bank Indonesia’s claim that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and global investors appreciate Indonesia’s consistency in maintaining macroeconomic stability.

According to Fakhrul, today’s challenge is no longer merely stability, but whether Indonesia has a sufficiently strong funding architecture to support future growth ambitions.

“So far, we have been too comfortable with the narrative of fiscal discipline—deficit below 3 percent, debt ratio maintained. That is important, but not enough. The market today wants to know more than that: what is the funding story? and how credible is the path forward?,” he said in a written statement on Thursday, 16 April 2026.

Amid rising costs of dollar-based funding, Fakhrul says Indonesia needs to be more aggressive in building alternatives, including through local currency settlement schemes. Local currency settlement is a bilateral transaction that uses each country’s local currency.

In that context, Fakhrul highlights the opportunity to utilise low-yielding currencies like CNH (offshore renminbi) as a more efficient source of liquidity, particularly to support bilateral trade and investment. “There are pockets of liquidity with lower costs, and we must be able to access them—both through bilateral cooperation and more innovative financial instrument designs,” he stated.

Previously, BI said IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva described Indonesia as one of the bright spots in the global economy. That statement was made during a meeting between Kristalina and BI Governor Perry Warjiyo, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, and members of the House of Representatives as part of the IMF Spring Meetings.

“The IMF and global investors appreciate Indonesia’s consistency in maintaining macroeconomic stability through solid synergy of fiscal and monetary policies, discipline in keeping the deficit below 3 percent of GDP, and adaptive and forward-looking policy responses in facing external pressures,” said Director of the Communications Department of BI, Anton Pinoto, in a press release on Wednesday, 15 April 2026.