JAKARTA, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves rose to 157.1 billion U.S. dollars at the end of March, up from 154.5 billion dollars the previous month, the central bank announced on Monday.
Ramdan Denny Prakoso, executive director of Bank Indonesia's Communication Department, noted that the growth was driven by tax and service revenues, as well as government foreign loan withdrawals.
"The rise in foreign exchange reserves occurred amid Bank Indonesia's efforts to stabilize the Rupiah exchange rate in response to persistently high global financial market uncertainty," said Ramdan.
Foreign exchange reserves at the end of March were equivalent to 6.7 months of imports, or 6.5 months of imports plus government external debt payments.
The level is far higher than the international adequacy standard of three months' worth of imports, and it is deemed adequate to sustain macroeconomic and financial stability.
Looking ahead, Bank Indonesia sees the foreign exchange reserves position as adequate and continues to develop collaboration with the government to ensure external resilience and support long-term economic growth.
