Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – A top brass at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently said that the international lender was not worried about Indonesia's ability to pay off the money it has borrowed for its energy transition, among others.

Throughout 2024, ADB has greenlit $1.9 billion worth of sovereign operations, which includes loans, for the Indonesian government. Jiro Tominaga, the ADB's country director for Indonesia, spoke to reporters Thursday on how confident the bank is in Indonesia's ability to pay off its debt.

"I think we are very confident. At this moment, I don't see any concern for Indonesia's ability to service its debt. Indonesia has a very relatively low debt-to-gross domestic product [GDP] ratio. So we don't see any concern on that front," Tominaga told a year-end press briefing.

Indonesia's debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 38.55 percent as of the end of September, still well below the 60 percent cap set by the State Finance Law. According to ADB's estimates, the Indonesian economy is set to grow by 5 percent in 2024. It will maintain its 5-percent growth next year.

ADB kicked off the year by approving a $419.6 million loan to improve sanitation services in the Indonesian cities of Mataram, Pontianak, and Semarang. In May, the bank greenlit a $500 million loan to help archipelagic Indonesia reduce the plastic waste flow into the oceans by 70 percent by next year.

Just a week ago, ADB approved a $500 million loan to boost Indonesia's financial inclusion. The announcement followed an earlier approval for a policy-based loan of the same amount to help Indonesia slash its carbon emissions. Data shows that climate finance accounted for 61 percent of the total 1.9 billion operations in 2024.

ADB reported that its active portfolio had reached $4.62 billion as of the end of November.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/adb-very-confident-in-indonesias-ability-to-repay-its-deb