Finance Ministry Talks of Government Debt Reaching Rp8,041tn
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3 January 2024 08:03 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Finance Ministry explained the Indonesian government debt, which was recorded at Rp8,041 trillion as of November 2023.
“As of November, the outstanding government debt was Rp8,041 trillion, but of course, we don't just look at the nominal amount,” said the ministry’s Director General of Financing and Risk Management, Suminto, at a press conference in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.
Suminto explained that various debt portfolio indicators showed that the current debt performance, including debt risk, was better than in previous years. As an example, he said that the ratio of debt to gross domestic product, or debt-to-GDP ratio, experienced a significant improvement.
At the end of November, the debt-to-GDP ratio was 38.11 percent, down from 39.7 percent in December 2022 and 40.7 percent in December 2021.
“So once again, the debt-to-GDP ratio declined as of November,” Suminto confirmed.
Meanwhile, in terms of currency risk, he argued that Indonesia's debt in foreign currency (forex) also continued to decline.
Suminto noted that the government's outstanding debt in foreign currency stood at 37.9 percent in 2019, or before the pandemic, and 41 percent in 2018. Meanwhile, as of November 2023, the figure was 27.5 percent.
“So, the [current] currency risk is better,” Suminto concluded.
Additionally, in terms of refinancing risk, the average time to maturity was also quite long at around 8.1 years. In terms of other market risks, the interest rate risk for most of the government debt was around 82 percent. However, the interest rate was fixed.
Therefore, Suminto said the government's debt was not too sensitive to interest rate movements in the market. “It is similar when reflected in other debt risk indicators, such as debt sustainability,” he said.
AMELIA RAHIMA SARI
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