TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Bank Indonesia recorded that the country's foreign debt reached US$444.4 billion, or equivalent to Rp8,030.31 trillion (based on an exchange rate of Rp18,070 per US dollar), in May 2026. The figure represents a slight increase from the US$439.8 billion recorded in the previous month.
On a year-on-year (yoy) basis, external debt grew by 2.1 percent in May, up from the 2.0 percent growth recorded in April 2026.
"This development is influenced by growth in public external debt from both the government and the central bank, alongside a lower contraction in private external debt," Bank Indonesia stated in a press release issued on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
Government external debt stood at US$217.3 billion in May, up from US$216.4 billion the previous month. Year-on-year, the government’s foreign debt grew by 3.7 percent.
Bank Indonesia noted that the expansion of government debt was primarily driven by capital inflows into global government bonds. "This reflects investor confidence in Indonesia's economic prospects, even amid net repayments of maturing government foreign loans," the central bank added.
"Meanwhile, the increase in Bank Indonesia's external debt was driven by rising foreign ownership of Bank Indonesia Rupiah Securities (SRBI) monetary instruments," BI explained. The increase is in line with BI's pro-market monetary operations and its ongoing efforts to stabilize the rupiah exchange rate amid prolonged global uncertainty.
Conversely, private external debt continued to shrink. Private external debt stood at US$195.9 billion in May 2026. The figure contracted by 0.1 percent on an annual basis. This trend was primarily driven by financial institutions, which recorded a year-on-year contraction of 0.8 percent in external debt.
Nevertheless, BI argued that Indonesia's external debt structure remains healthy, supported by prudent management principles. This is reflected in the country's external debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio, which stood at 29.9 percent in May 2026 and remains dominated by long-term debt, accounting for 83.9 percent of the total.
Read: What Caused Indonesia's Consumer Confidence Index to Fall in June?
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