Indonesia's Wealthy Increasingly Hoard US Dollars Amid Rupiah Weakness

Jakarta. Wealthy Indonesians are increasingly favouring US dollar savings, with the number of foreign currency accounts surging 58.2% year-on-year to 8,918,054 as of May 2026, according to data from the Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS). These accounts now represent 1.3% of all deposit accounts in the country.

In contrast, the number of rupiah-denominated accounts grew at a much slower pace of 8.4% during the same period, totalling 673,138,861 accounts and accounting for 98.7% of all deposits.

LPS Board of Commissioners Chairman Anggito Abimanyu attributed the sharp rise in dollar accounts primarily to growth in tiered deposits exceeding IDR 5 billion. “The increase is in the tiering of accounts above IDR 5 billion,” Anggito said on the sidelines of a national seminar at the Perbanas Institute in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He noted that the surge was not yet driven by the new regulation on export proceeds (DHE), which mandates that natural resource exporters place 100% of their foreign exchange earnings in domestic banks. The policy, enacted under Government Regulation No. 21 of 2026, only took effect in June, with the funds expected to enter the banking system by September.

Perbanas Chairman Hery Gunardi confirmed the trend, stating that the growth in dollar accounts was already evident before the DHE rule’s full implementation. “There has been an increase, but the DHE funds entering state-owned banks are quite significant,” Hery said, adding that the repatriation of export earnings would naturally boost dollar placements.

Overall, the nominal value of foreign currency deposits rose 18.7% year-on-year to the equivalent of IDR 1,714.76 trillion, representing 16.6% of total deposits. Rupiah deposits grew 12.4% to IDR 8,615.16 trillion, holding the remaining 83.4% share.

The shift towards dollar holdings comes as the rupiah continues to face pressure. The currency opened weaker at IDR 18,060 per US dollar on Tuesday, depreciating 0.33% from the previous close of IDR 18,000.