Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia's combined foreign debt, including both government and private sector obligations, decreased to 395.1 billion USD in August from 397.1 billion USD the previous month, the central bank announced on October 16.
On a year-on-year basis, the debt figure also showed a slight fall of 0.8%.
According to Bank Indonesia's spokesman Erwin Haryono, the government's foreign debt amounted to 191.6 billion USD, compared to 193.2 billion USD in July, marking a 3.6 % reduction compared to the same month last year.
Erwin revealed that the government upholds its credibility by consistently repaying both principal and interest while ensuring responsible, efficient, and transparent debt management.
He said the foreign debt has been strategically allocated to support productive sectors and essential spending to sustain economic growth as 24% of foreign debt allocations were directed towards the healthcare sector and social programmes, followed by administrative spending, defence, and social security (18.2%), education (16.8%), construction (14.2%), and financial services and insurance (10.1%).
Erwin said the government's foreign debt remains at a "secure and manageable level," with the majority of the debt being of a long-term nature.
Foreign debt from the private sector saw a slight decrease, reaching 194.3 billion USD in August, compared to 194.5 billion USD in July. In comparison to the same month of the previous year, private sector debt in August reduced by 5.2 %. The foreign debt now accounts for 29.1% of the country's gross domestic product./.
