Indonesia’s December 2020 Forex Reserves Reach Near-Record High of USD 135.9 Billion

Indonesia’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves reached a second-highest annual level of USD 135.9 billion in December 2020, due to tax collection and government borrowing, according to a statement from Bank Indonesia (BI) issued on the 8th of January 2021.

The figure was an increase of USD 2.3 billion from USD 133.6 billion recorded in November 2020, and was only superseded by the record high forex reserves reported in August 2020, which reached USD 137.0 billion, as reported by local media.

The December 2020 reserves level is expected to allow the country to pay back foreign debt, as well as cover 9.8 months’ worth of imports. In addition, the reserves level was also above the international reserve adequacy standard of three months of imports. BI stated t...