Jakarta – The government continues to strengthen foreign exchange reserves as a step to maintain national economic stability. The policy of Foreign Exchange from Natural Resource Exports (DHE SDA) of 100 percent which must be placed in the national financial system is one of its main strategies.
Deputy Minister of Finance, Suahasil Nazara, explained that this policy aims to strengthen domestic economic turnover by increasing liquidity sourced from mining exports.
He understands the concerns of business actors, but emphasizes the importance of foreign exchange benefits for the national economy.
“We want foreign exchange from mining results not only to go out, but to return and circulate domestically,” he said at the CNBC Indonesia Economic Outlook 2025 event in Jakarta.
Suahasil said that Indonesia has large mining reserves, from coal to various types of minerals, all of which generate high foreign exchange.
He considered that this wealth needs to be utilized optimally for national interests, including financing further exploration.
“This foreign exchange can be collateral for subsequent economic activities,” he said.
The government has ratified PP Number 8 of 2025 which requires the storage of DHE SDA for 12 months in a special national bank account. This policy is also supported by Bank Indonesia (BI) Regulation Number 3 of 2025 and the addition of placement instruments such as Foreign Currency Securities (SVBI) and Foreign Currency Sukuk (SUVBI).
Bank Indonesia noted that the foreign exchange reserve position at the end of March 2025 reached US$ 157.1 billion, up from February which was US$ 154.5 billion.
Executive Director of the BI Communication Department, Ramdan Denny Prakoso, stated that the increase was driven by tax revenues, services, and foreign loan withdrawals. “These foreign exchange reserves are sufficient to finance 6.7 months of imports and remain above international standards,” he explained.
Paramadina University economist, Wijayanto Samirin, assessed that the DHE SDA policy was very appropriate. He said that placing foreign exchange domestically could strengthen reserves and maintain the exchange rate without disrupting exporters’ business operations.
“Instruments such as SVBI and SUVBI also keep DHE liquid and easy to use,” he said.
