Indonesia's external debt decreased in October 2021. The external debt at the end of October 2021 was down to USD422.3 billion from USD423.8 billion in the previous month, driven by the declining position of the Government's and private's external debt. On an annual basis, external debt grew 2.2% (yoy) in October 2021, lower than the previous month's growth of 3.8% (yoy).

The Government's external debt was lower than the previous month. In October 2021, the Government's external debt amounted to USD204.9 billion, which was lower than USD205.5 billion in the previous month, thus annually decelerating to 2.5% (yoy) from 4.1% (yoy) in September 2021. The decline was in line with the several series of Government Securities (SBN) and loans maturing in October 2021. 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. Meanwhile, external debt disbursement in October 2021 is still prioritized to support the Government's priority spending, including the effort to handle the Covid-19 pandemic and the National Economic Recovery Program (PEN). The Government's external debt support in meeting priority spending needs until October 2021 includes, among others, public administration, defense, & compulsory social security sector (17.9% of 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 from the short-term refinancing risk perspective, which dominantly consisted of long-term maturity debt, accounted for 99.9% of the total Government's external debt.

The private's external debt decreased compared to the previous month. The position of private's external debt in October 2021 was recorded at USD208.4 billion, declining from USD209.2 billion in September 2021. On an annual basis, the private's external debt in October 2021 contracted 1.0% (yoy), after recorded a slight growth of 0.4% (yoy) in the last period. Such development was attributable to a deeper contraction of financial institutions' external debt growth to 5.8% (yoy) from 2.7% (yoy) in September 2021. In addition, non-financial institutions' external debt growth slowed to 0.3% (yoy) from 1.3% (yoy) in the previous month. Several sectors with the most significant external debt, namely the financial & insurance sector; electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector; manufacturing sector, and mining & drilling sector; were accounted for 76.8% of total private external debt. The private's external debt was still dominated by long-term maturity external debt, which accounted for 76.3% 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 October 2021 is manageable, as reflected in the maintained ratio of Indonesia's external debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at around 36.1%, lower than 37.0% 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 88.3% 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) December 2021 edition on the Bank Indonesia website. This publication can also be accessed through the Ministry of Finance website.

Jakarta, 14^th December 2021

Head of Communication Department

Erwin Haryono

Executive Director