Thekabarnews.com – Bank Indonesia (BI) says that Indonesia’s external debt went up from 434.9 billion US dollars in January 2026 to 437.9 billion US dollars in February 2026.

The central bank said that Indonesia’s external debt grew by 2.5 percent year-on-year (yoy) in February 2026. This was faster than the 1.7 percent growth seen in the previous month.

The public sector, particularly the central bank, primarily caused the rise, according to Bank Indonesia (BI) communications head Anton Pitono. The increase was happening while foreign capital continued to flow into monetary instruments like Bank Indonesia (BI) Rupiah Securities (SRBI).

“The rise in external debt was largely supported by public sector borrowing, especially Bank Indonesia, as foreign investors increased their holdings in rupiah-denominated securities,” Anton said in an official statement released in Jakarta, Wednesday, April 15.

From the public sector’s perspective, the government’s external debt was 215.9 billion US dollars in February 2026. This was a 5.5 percent increase from the previous year. It was a little less than the 5.6 percent increase recorded in January.

The decline in debt securities had an effect on the development. The government allocated most of its external debt to key sectors, including health and social services (22.0 percent), public administration, defense, and mandatory social security (20.3 percent), education (16.2 percent), construction (11.6 percent), and transportation and warehousing (8.5 percent).

Anton stressed that long-term debts make up 99.98 percent of all government external debt. Furthermore, increased non-resident ownership of BI monetary instruments drove the rise in Bank Indonesia’s external debt.

This is in line with the central bank’s pro-market monetary policies. It also aligns with efforts to keep the rupiah stable even though the world is becoming more uncertain.

Private sector external debt, on the other hand, fell to 193.7 billion US dollars in February 2026, a decline of 0.7 percent from the previous year.

Companies in the financial sector saw a 2.8 percent drop from the year before. Meanwhile, companies in the non-financial sector saw a 0.2 percent drop.

In terms of economic sectors, manufacturing, financial services and insurance, electricity and gas supply, and mining and quarrying constituted the largest share of private external debt. These sectors made up 80.3 percent of all private external debt.

Long-term borrowing still made up the majority of private external debt, accounting for 76.0 percent of the total.

Despite an overall increase, Bank Indonesia stated that the country’s external debt remains in excellent condition. External debt made up 29.8 percent of GDP, and long-term debt made up 84.9 percent of all external debt.

Bank Indonesia and the government are collaborating more closely to monitor changes in external debt, ensuring their sustainability. In particular, they are implementing monitoring mechanisms and policies that address potential risks associated with rising external debt levels.

“External debt will continue to be optimized to support development finance and foster sustainable economic growth while reducing threats to economic stability,” Anton ended by saying.

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