Indonesia's external debt decreased in November 2021. The external debt at the end of November 2021 was down to USD416.4 billion from USD422.3 billion in the previous month. Such development was driven by the declining position of the public sector (Government and Central bank) and private sector external debt. On an annual basis, external debt posted low growth at 0.1% (yoy), declining from 2.2% (yoy) in the previous month.

The Government's external debt was lower than the previous month. The position of Government's external debt in November 2021 amounted to USD202.2 billion, lower than USD204.9 billion in the previous month, causing the external debt contracted by 0.7% (yoy) after grew by 2.5% (yoy) in October 2021. Such development was mainly driven by foreign capital flows adjustment in the Government Securities (SBN) market, in line with the global sentiment, which increased the US Treasury yields' trend after the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) meeting. On the other hand, the Government signed multilateral loans in November 2021 to support the financing of the Covid-19 handling program, one of which was from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) through the Additional Financing for Indonesia Emergency Response to Covid-19 program. The external debt's withdrawal in November 2021 is still directed at supporting the Government's priority spending, including the effort to handle the Covid-19 pandemic and the National Economic Recovery Program (PEN). The Government is committed to maintaining credibility by fulfilling obligations to promptly pay debt principal and interest as well as managing external debt in a prudent, credible, and accountable manner. The Government's external debt support in meeting priority spending needs until November 2021 includes, among others, public administration, defense, & compulsory social security sector (17.9% of total Government's external debt), human health & social work activities sector (17.3%), education sector (16.5%), construction sector (15.5%), and financial and insurance sector (12.0%). The Government's external debt position remains safe and manageable, which dominantly consists of long-term maturity debt, accounting for 99.98% of the total Government's external debt.

The private's external debt decreased compared to the previous month. The private's extenal debt position was recorded at USD205.2 billion in November 2021, declining from USD208.3 billion in October 2021. On an annual basis, the private's external debt contracted by 2.0% (yoy) in November 2021, deeper than a 1.0% (yoy) contraction in the previous period. Such development was attributable to the contraction of financial corporations and non-financial corporations accounted for 5.4% (yoy) and 1.0% (yoy), respectively, in line with the payment of maturing external debt during November 2021. Several sectors with the most significant external debt, namely the financial & insurance sector; electricity, gas, steam & air conditioning supply sector; manufacturing sector, and mining & drilling sector; were accounted for 76.4% of total private external debt. The private external debt was still dominated by long-term maturity external debt, accounting for 77.7% share of total private's external debt.

The structure of Indonesia's external debt remained healthy, supported by the prudential principle application in its management.  Indonesia's external debt in November 2021 is manageable, as reflected in the maintained ratio of Indonesia's external debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at around 35.5%, lower than 36.1% in the previous month.  In addition, the structure of Indonesia's external debt remained healthy, which was indicated by the domination of long-term maturity debt with an 89.0% share of total external debt. In close coordination with the government, Bank Indonesia monitors external debt by promoting the prudential principle application in its management to maintain a solid external debt structure. External debt's role will also be optimized to support development financing and stimulate economic recovery by minimizing the risks that may affect macroeconomic stability.

The complete data on the latest Indonesia's external debt and its metadata can be obtained in the publication of Indonesia's External Debt Statistics (SULNI) Januari 2022 edition on the Bank Indonesia website. This publication can also be accessed through the Ministry of Finance website.

Jakarta, 17^th January 2022

Head of Communication Department

Erwin Haryono

Executive Director