TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Global sukuk helps jack up Indonesia's foreign reserves
Change Size
Bank Indonesia employees walk inside the central bank's headquarters in Jakarta. (JP/wienda parwitasari)
I
ndonesia boosted last month its foreign exchange reserves to US$121.8 billion, higher than February's position of $119.9 billion, as the government's recent issuance of sukuk played a major role in the increase.
Bank Indonesia (BI) attributed the increase to funds repatriated during the final month of the tax amnesty, export proceeds of oil and gas, the government's issuance of global bonds and the central bank's auction of foreign exchange securities (SBBI), the central bank said in a statement on Friday.
The amount of foreign reserves in March was sufficient for 8.6 months of imports and payments of the government's external debts and BI's matured foreign exchange securities.
(Read also: Government absorbs Rp 6.01t from sukuk sales)
The government issued recently US dollar-denominated global sukuk worth $3 billion with five-year and 10-year maturities at 3.4 percent and 4.15 percent yields, respectively. Both are listed at the Singapore Stock Exchange and NASDAQ Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The global sukuk were oversubscribed four times, with incoming bids reaching $10.84 billion following the government's road shows in several sharia financial centers in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Global rating agencies Moody's Investor Service and Fitch Ratings gave the Baa3 rating to the global sukuk, the highest record of issuance by the Indonesian government and by a country outside the gulf region. (hwa)
