Purbaya Hints at Another Panda Bond Issuance This Year

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has signalled that Indonesia will issue another panda bond this year. He made the statement when asked by reporters at the Finance Ministry offices on Friday (24/7/2026).

“Possibly yes,” Purbaya said briefly when asked about the prospect of issuing another panda bond this year.

As is known, the Indonesian government completed the issuance of global debt instruments denominated in Chinese yuan — panda bonds — yesterday, Thursday (24/7/2026). In this maiden offering, the government raised CNY 7 billion, or approximately Rp18.58 trillion (at an assumed exchange rate of Rp2,655/CNY), equivalent to around US$1 billion.

According to records from the Finance Ministry’s Directorate General of Budget Financing and Risk Management (DJPPR), Indonesia offered two tenors: a three-year tranche worth CNY 5.6 billion, or about Rp14.86 trillion, and a five-year tranche of CNY 1.4 billion, or about Rp3.59 trillion.

Purbaya revealed that the government only absorbed CNY 7 billion, equivalent to US$1 billion, out of total orders of CNY 17 billion. The reason, according to Purbaya, was that the government followed the advice of the lead underwriter. According to the lead underwriter, limiting the order size was expected to improve the pricing of Indonesia’s panda bond. This was the first panda bond ever issued by Indonesia.

“Because the target was around one billion. The lead underwriter said don’t take more than that for now. Why? So the price stays good. That way, the next issuance will be even better,” he explained.

Purbaya said the results of this debut issuance were satisfactory, as the yield obtained by the government was competitive and investor demand was high. He even compared the panda bond yield favourably against dim sum bonds.

The Finance Ministry set the three-year panda bond tranche of CNY 5.6 billion at a yield of 1.90%, while the five-year tranche of CNY 1.4 billion carried a yield of 2.19%.

“If we look at the yields, they’re good, aren’t they? The three-year one is 1.9%-something, right? The five-year is 2.19%. Good, isn’t it? Better than dim sum bonds,” Purbaya said.

According to Purbaya, the success of this debut issuance demonstrates that Indonesia now has a cheaper alternative source of funding than before.