Indonesia`s Forex Reserves are Safe: BI Official

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian foreign exchange (forex) reserves are safe and need not elicit concern, a central bank official said on Saturday.

Until July 2015, the countrys forex reserves were recorded at US$107.6 billion, which is enough to pay for imports for 6.8 months and the governments foreign debt, the acting Group Head of Bank Indonesia Relations Management, Arbanas Hutabarat, said during a discussion on the country`s economy.

"So do not make it sound like a big problem. Our countrys foreign exchange reserves are safe and macro-economic conditions are also still good," he said.

Hutabarat added that banking conditions in Indonesia were also healthy right now. "What has made them healthy is that they have all been insured and abide by the hedging rules," he added.

He further said that BI could still focus on controlling inflation to meet the target of 4.0 percent for 2015 and 2016.

Also, investors need not panic with regards to the current global crisis as everything is still under control, Hutabarat noted.

"Indeed, the impact of the yuan still exists and is reflected in our calculation a drop of 1 percent in the Chinese economic growth rate and a slump of by 0.6 percent in Indonesias economy," he said.

The BI official said he believed the Rupiah exchange rate would appreciate soon as long as the public does not panic and positive stimulus is given.

"The government expenditures are good as they could produce fiscal stimulus, while every spending made by the public could boost production to create employment," he said.

ANTARA