Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) is optimistic that credit growth will accelerate in Indonesia in 2018. The lender of last resort set its credit growth forecast for 2018 at the range of 12-14 percent year-on-year (y/y), up from its 10-12 percent (y/y) growth forecast for 2017, on the back of accelerating economic growth. The Indonesian government proposes economic growth at 5.4 percent (y/y) in 2018 (possibly a too ambitious target).

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Bank Indonesia (the central bank of Indonesia) is convinced that the nation's current account deficit (CAD) will not exceed 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017. In the second quarter of 2017 the CAD widened to 1.96 percent of GDP (or USD $5 billion), from 0.98 percent of GDP in the preceding quarter (or USD $2.4 billion).

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The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) announced that the country's foreign exchange reserves rose USD $4.7 billion to the level of USD $127.76 billion at the end of July 2017. Growth of forex assets was primarily attributed to foreign exchange receipts, including the government's issuance of global bonds, tax revenues and government oil & gas export proceeds. Lastly, the auction of Bank Indonesia foreign exchange bills also added forex receipts.

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In local Indonesian media it is reported that Indonesian President Joko Widodo has given his blessing to the central bank (Bank Indonesia)'s plan to redenominate the rupiah. Bank Indonesia has already prepared a draft bill on the redenomination of the Indonesian Rupiah with the aim to improve economic efficiency and to create smoother commercial transactions. While the rupiah value would remain unchanged, the draft bill eyes to remove the last three zeros on all rupiah bills and coins.

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Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) concluded its Board of Governors Meeting later than usual on Thursday evening (20/07). However, there were no surprises. At the July policy meeting Bank Indonesia decided to keep its benchmark interest rate - the 7-day reverse repurchase rate - at 4.75 percent, in line with analyst estimates. Meanwhile, the deposit facility and lending facility were kept at 4.00 percent and 5.50 percent, respectively, effective per 21 Juli 2017.

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Since November 2016 we had seen six consecutive months of rising foreign exchange reserves in Indonesia. However, this trend ended in June 2017. The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) announced on Friday (07/07) that the nation's foreign exchange assets fell to USD $123.09 billion last month, from USD $124.95 billion in May 2017 (which was an all-time record high level).

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The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) expects Indonesia's inflation rate to rise to 4.36 percent year-on-year (y/y) by the end of 2017, a significant jump compared to the 3.02 percent (y/y) inflation rate in 2016 but still within the initial target range of Bank Indonesia (that is set at a wide range of 3 - 5 percent y/y). According to the latest data from Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia's annual inflation rate rose to 4.33 percent (y/y) in May, up from 4.17 percent (y/y) in the preceding month.

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The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) announced the country's foreign exchange reserves rose by USD $1.7 billion to reach the new record high of USD $124.95 billion at the end of May 2017. Growth of Indonesia's foreign exchange assets was attributed to foreign exchange receipts (mainly originating from tax revenues and government oil & gas export earnings), as well as to Bank Indonesia's foreign exchange bills auction.

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Starting from March 5, 2018, Indonesian citizens as well as foreigners need to be a bit more careful when bringing foreign-denominated cash money into Indonesia. A new Bank Indonesia regulation sets a IDR 1 billion (approx. USD $75,000) ceiling on the total amount of foreign cash money an individual can bring into Indonesia.

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Sugeng, Deputy Governor of Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia),  confirmed on Monday morning (08/05) that his institution has recently been intervening in the foreign exchange market in an effort to limit sharp rupiah appreciation. So far in 2017 the Indonesian rupiah has appreciated 1.11 percent against the US dollar with most of the rupiah's advance stemming from the first month of the year.

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We were surprised to learn that Indonesia’s central bank (Bank Indonesia) decided to leave its interest rates unchanged at the two-day monetary policy meeting on 23-24 May 2022. The benchmark BI 7-Day Reverse Repo Rate was kept at 3.50 percent, while the deposit facility and lending facility rates were maintained at 2.75 percent and 4.25 percent, respectively. We had expected Bank Indonesia to raise its key rate by 0.25 percent to 3.75 percent at this occasion.

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In the last week of December 2021, Perry Warjiyo, Governor of Indonesia’s central bank (Bank Indonesia), sent a strong signal to markets that the benchmark interest rate of Indonesia (seven-day reverse repo rate) will not be raised before Q3-2022. This is much later than we initially expected.

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At its latest monetary policy meeting, which ended on 18 February 2021, the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) decided to cut its benchmark interest rate (BI 7-Day Reverse Repo Rate), again, by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.50 percent, touching a historically low level.

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It came as a big surprise to us when the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) announced on 19 November 2020 (the day it concluded its two-day monetary policy meeting) that it decided to cut its benchmark interest rate (the seven-day reverse repo rate) by 25 basis points to 3.75 percent. Bank Indonesia also cut its deposit facility and lending facility rates by 25 basis points to 3.00 percent and 4.50 percent, respectively.

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In September 2020 concern arose over whether the House of Representatives (DPR) is trying to undermine the country’s central bank (Bank Indonesia)’s independence (from the government). The DPR’s legislation body came with a bill (a draft revision of the Bank Indonesia Law) that contains a number of controversial articles, making analysts concerned about the quality of future monetary policymaking in Indonesia.

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In February 2020 all eyes were on the novel coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the global financial markets. Especially when the new virus spread across European countries toward the end of the month, market participants started selling their assets, causing huge sell-offs around the globe.

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The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) decided to cut its benchmark interest rate ("BI seven-day reverse repo rate") by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.75 percent at the two-day policy meeting on 19 and 20 February 2020.

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In line with expectations, the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) kept its benchmark BI 7-Day Reverse Repo Rate at 6.00 percent at the February policy meeting that was held on 20-21 February 2019. Also the deposit facility and lending facility rates were kept at 5.25 percent and 6.75 percent, respectively.

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In line with expectations, the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) left its interest rates unchanged at the last monetary policy meeting of 2018 (held on 19-20 December 2018). The benchmark BI 7-Day Reverse Repo Rate was held at 6.00 percent, while the deposit facility and lending facility rates were kept at 5.25 percent and 6.75 percent, respectively.

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Concerns about Indonesia's current account balance increased after Bank Indonesia announced last week that the country's current account deficit widened to USD $8.02 billion, or 3.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), in the second quarter of 2018. It is Indonesia's highest quarterly deficit since Q3-2014, thus putting additional pressures on the rupiah exchange rate.

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