Marchio Irfan Gorbiano, Jakarta – Indonesia's foreign debt stood at US$356.9 billion as of April, growing by 7.6 percent year-on-year (yoy), which was slower than the 8.8 percent growth recorded in the previous month, Bank Indonesia (BI) revealed on Thursday.

The central bank said in a statement that the foreign debt level was still under control and healthy, as long-term maturity debt still dominated the overall debt structure, amounting to 86.7 percent of overall external debt.

The latest figure brought the external debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to 34 percent, which is better than that of Indonesia's neighboring countries, BI assured.

"BI coordinates with the government to monitor external debt to optimize its role in development financing without creating risks that could affect the economy's stability," BI said.

The central bank explained that the decline in external debt growth was primarily caused by a decline in both government as well as private sector debt, with business from the mining, manufacturing and financial services sectors booking sluggish external debt growth.

The government's foreign external debt, including that of the central bank, amounted to $183.8 billion in April, while the private sectors' external debt, which includes the foreign debt of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), was recorded at $173.1 billion in the same period. (evi)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/06/22/indonesia-books-us356-9-billion-inforeign-debts.html