Jakarta, IO – The Indonesian government debt, which has increased to Rp7,163.1 trillion as of July 2022, is of particular concern to the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) conveyed at the body’s annual session to hear the government’s report on the performance of state institutions on Tuesday (16/8).
MPR Speaker Bambang “Bamsoet” Soesatyo said a significant increase in government debt could lead to additional burden in interest payments. He said the coupon payments and the maturity of government debt will have an impact on foreign exchange reserves. In July, Indonesia’s imports and foreign debt payments amounted to US$21.6 billion. However, he noted that the country’s forex reserve is still twice the international adequacy standard, Bisnis reported on Tuesday (16/8).
“The budget deficit, which must be brought back to below 3 percent by 2023, is a major challenge, due to uncertainties facing the economic recovery,” said Bamsoet.