RI forex reserves fall to $14.62 billion

RI forex reserves fall to $14.62 billion

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Indonesia announced on Tuesday its net
international reserves decreased US$126.8 million to $14.62
billion as of March 5 from the Feb. 26 level of $14.75 billion.

Gross foreign assets also dropped to Rp 24.15 billion from Rp
24.28 billion, the central bank said in its latest report.

The decrease was mainly due to repayment of part of the
government's foreign debt, it said.

The central bank's net claim on the government also increased
by Rp 895 billion to Rp 121.83 trillion.

It was attributed to foreign debt repayments and the imported
wheat subsidy.

The central bank also reported a Rp 1.02 trillion ($117
million) increase in the net claim on the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to Rp 7.02 trillion due to the
additional disbursement of the central bank's liquidity support
(BLBI) for domestic banks under IBRA supervision.

Bank Indonesia's liquidity credits (KLBI) increased by Rp 81
billion to Rp 20.35 trillion due to disbursement of subsidized
credits for farmers and cooperatives.

Open market operations resulted in a contraction of Rp 1.1
trillion to minus Rp 61.59 trillion due to the reduced number of
the central bank's certificates sold through market auction.

Net domestic assets increased by Rp 85 billion to minus Rp
69.71 trillion, still below the International Monetary Fund's
adjusted target of minus Rp 58.5 trillion. (02)