(June 8): Indonesia’s foreign-exchange reserves fell for a fifth straight month in May, underscoring the cost of policymakers’ efforts to steady the rupiah after its slide to a record low.
Reserves dropped to US$144.9 billion ($186.96 billion) last month, marking the longest stretch of losses since 2018. The decline was due to the government’s external debt payments and the central bank’s measures to stabilise the rupiah amid high uncertainty in global financial markets, Bank Indonesia said in an emailed statement Monday.
The rupiah held earlier losses of 0.7% as it continued falling to a new all-time low against the US dollar. Indonesia’s 10-year bond yields rose further to 26 basis points to 7.14%, the highest since April 2025. The benchmark stock index held a 2.5% decline amid a broad regional selloff.
The drawdown comes as the central bank intensified intervention in currency and bond markets to support the rupiah, which has weakened about 8% this year. Foreign investors have pulled more than US$3.5 billion from Indonesian stocks, as the benchmark Jakarta stock index tumbled more than 30% this year.
Bank Indonesia and the government pledged Saturday to join forces to bolster foreign investor appetite for Indonesian assets. The central bank plans to increase the interest paid on government deposits held with it, a move aimed at lowering the state’s borrowing costs and luring in more inflows.
Indonesia’s reserves are enough to cover 5.5 months’ worth of imports and foreign-debt servicing, Bank Indonesia said. That’s adequate to ensure external resilience and the stability of the financial system, it added.
See also: Bank Indonesia chief touts higher bond yields to investors
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