Plough Rp2 trillion a day to help safeguard the rupiah: Purbaya's funding sources

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has begun implementing a targeted strategy aimed at supporting Bank Indonesia (BI) in strengthening the stability of the rupiah against the United States dollar (US$).

The strategy, which he has described as a Bond Stabilization Fund (BSF), involves intervening in the government securities market by repurchasing government bonds (SBN) sold by global investors.

The move is intended to ensure that yields on government debt do not come under pressure, which could trigger a chain reaction of outflows driven by negative sentiment, thereby reducing the supply of dollars domestically.

‘We have stepped into the bond market gradually. Foreign investors have also started to come in,’ Purbaya said at the State Palace, Jakarta, quoted on Tuesday (19 May 2026).

To implement the policy, he said he would inject Rp2 trillion daily. Thus, he is confident that rupiah will stabilise this week, though he did not specify a target range.

‘These coming weeks will be more stable. I will enter the bond market every day. I ask to inject Rp2 trillion every day,’ Purbaya asserted.

However, Purbaya did not explain in detail from which part of the budget the Rp2 trillion comes. He stressed only that the scheme uses reallocations of funds within the 2026 State Budget (APBN 2026).

‘We still have several pockets, it’s just cash management, so no problem. The money doesn’t disappear. It is simply rotated to generate a little positive sentiment in the bond market,’ he said.

‘Usually, when the sentiment is positive there, foreigners also tend to come in, and the rupiah tends to remain controlled. Why? Because the money doesn’t exit anymore,’ he added.

With this approach, Purbaya is confident he can maintain global investor confidence in the domestic bond market, thereby helping to stabilise the rupiah exchange rate, which had briefly breached Rp17,660 per US$ yesterday, due to inflows supporting dollar supply domestically.

‘Foreigners won’t sell bonds and bolt out. Because the bonds’ prices are stable, meaning if yields do fall, we target them to fall; if yields fall, bond prices rise. There is potential capital gain, so the domestic bond market should be attractive,’ Purbaya said.

However, Purbaya could not yet say how long the strategy would be in place. He said the government has ample funds to help BI stabilise rupiah movements against the dollar, because the government’s cash balance last-resort (SAL) remains around Rp420 trillion.

‘We’ll see how far we need to go. I have Rp420 trillion in cash that I can deploy there; I can also move cash there, so it should be sustainable,’ he concluded.

source on Google [Gambas:Video CNBC]