TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Bank Indonesia (BI) on Tuesday reported that Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of January reached US$141.3 billion, which is lower than the end of December last year of US$144.9 billion.

The bank’s executive director of the communication department Erwin Haryono in a statement on Tuesday said the drop in January was mainly because of the government paying off foreign debts and reduced banking’s foreign exchange (forex) placements.

"The decline in foreign exchange placements at the central bank was part of the anticipation of the need for foreign exchange liquidity in line with improving economic activity," he said on February 8, Antaranews reported.

The position of the forex reserve is equivalent to financing 7.6 months of imports or 7.4 months of imports and servicing government external debt, and is above the international adequacy standard of around three months of imports.

Bank Indonesia considers the foreign exchange reserves to be able to support external sector resilience and maintain macroeconomic and financial system stability. For future activities, the Monetary Authority views the forex reserves to be adequate, backed by the prospect of maintaining economic stability that corresponds to policies issued to boost economic recovery.

Read: Bank Indonesia Announces US$145.9bn Forex Reserves in November

ANTARA