RI forex reserves fall

JAKARTA (JP): The country's net foreign exchange reserves dropped US$120.60 million to $16.94 billion in the week which ended on Tuesday.

Bank Indonesia said in its weekly report on Thursday that the sharp drop was mainly caused by payments of the country's haj pilgrimage costs and servicing of overseas loans.

The central bank said the country's gross forex reserves fell $121.50 billion to $27.90 billion.

The country's net international reserves are well above the target of 14 billion which was agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund.

The money supply declined Rp 385 billion to Rp 87.33 trillion, partly due to the central bank's open market operation, which last week absorbed about Rp 13.7 trillion from the sales of its short-term promissory notes (SBIs).(hen)