Highlights of September’s Forex Reserves
September’s forex reserves were at USD114.8 billion. The level was lower than August’s forex reserves of USD117.9 billion and the lowest level since January 2017. The decline of USD3.1 billion in September’s forex reserves was the biggest decline since February’s forex reserves.
High Volatility, Draining Forex Reserves
Bank Indonesia (BI)’s task of maintaining the rupiah stability through varied interventions in the forex and government bonds (SBN) markets drained forex reserves. In September, the rupiah was still depreciated by 1.3%, lower than August’s depreciation of 2.1%. In fact, the 10-year government bond yield slid from 8.202% to 8.115%.
However, the soaring volatility in financial market on a daily basis drained September’s forex reserves. September’s volatility stemmed from the trend of hiking global crude prices from USD68 per barrel to USD74 per barrel.
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