Indonesia's Foreign Debts Grew 7.1 Percent YOY in January

Jakarta (Antara) - Indonesia's foreign debts rose 7.1 percent year-on-year (yoy) to reach US$269.3 billion in January 2014, according to Bank Indonesia (BI). Compared to December 2103, the total amount of foreign debts rose 4.6 percent yoy, the central bank said on its website on Monday. The growth in the total foreign debts was primarily fueled by foreign debts of the private sector, which rose 12.2 percent yoy to reach US$141.4 billion. However, the total foreign debts in the public sector grew 1.9 percent yoy to touch US$127.9 billion. Compared to the previous month, the foreign debts of the private sector grew 0.6 percent and those of the public sector increased 1.6 percent. The growth of foreign debts was dominated by long-term debts, which rose 7.1 percent yoy in January 2014, higher than the growth in December 2013 at 4.1 percent yoy. Meanwhile, the short-term foreign debts increased 7.0 percent yoy, which is marginally lower than the growth in the previous month at 7.1 percent yoy. The long-term foreign debts were reported at US$222.8 billion as of January 2014, accounting for 82.7 percent of the total foreign debts. The long-term foreign debts of the public sector reached US$121.5 billion, or 95 percent of the total foreign debts in the public sector, while those of the private sector reached US$101.3 billion, or 71.71 percent of the total foreign debts of the private sector. The growth of foreign debts of the private sector was led by the foreign debts of the financial sector and the transportation and communication sector. BI said the growth of foreign debts was still healthy. It would support the resilience of the external sector as reflected by the amount of foreign debts in January 2014, which was manageable at a level of 30.8 percent of the national gross domestic product. The growth of foreign debts in January 2014 was inseparable from the need for economic financing, including through foreign debts. (*) Reporting by Citro Atmoko