Indonesia’s external debt (foreign debt) saw another monthly increase in April 2025, rising by US$800 million to reach US$431.55 billion, or approximately IDR 7,197.76 trillion, based on the end-of-April JISDOR exchange rate of IDR 16,679 per US dollar. According to Ramdan Denny Prakoso, Head of the Communication Department at Bank Indonesia (BI), although the year-on-year (YoY) growth in external debt stood at 8.2%, the overall debt position remains well-managed and stable.

The rise in government foreign debt was aligned with the depreciation of the rupiah following the announcement of reciprocal tariffs by the United States earlier in April. “This increase in foreign debt was also influenced by the weakening of the US dollar against most global currencies,” said Denny in an official statement on Monday (June 16, 2025).

Denny emphasized that Indonesia's external debt structure remains sound, supported by prudent debt management practices. This is reflected in the debt-to-GDP ratio, which declined to 30.3% in April 2025 from 30.6% in March 2025. Additionally, a significant portion of Indonesia’s foreign debt—85.1%—consists of long-term obligations.

Overall, Denny explained that the April 2025 external debt growth originated primarily from the public sector. Specifically, the government’s external debt reached US$208.8 billion in April, showing a YoY increase of 10.4%, which is higher than the 7.6% growth recorded in March 2025.

This development was driven by loan disbursements and increased foreign capital inflows into domestic government securities (SBN), reflecting investor confidence in Indonesia’s economic prospects amidst high global financial market uncertainty.

The government remains committed to preserving its credibility by managing external debt cautiously, transparently, and responsibly, to support priority expenditures. As part of the state budget (APBN) financing instruments, the use of foreign debt is continuously aligned with efforts to sustain economic growth, while ensuring fiscal sustainability.

By sector, government external debt is utilized to support vital areas, including Health Services and Social Activities (22.3% of total government external debt), Public Administration, Defense, and Compulsory Social Security (18.7%), Education Services (16.4%), Construction (12.0%), and Transportation and Warehousing (8.7%). The government’s debt position remains secure, with 99.9% of it being long-term in nature.

While government external debt continues to post relatively strong growth, private sector external debt maintained its contraction trend in April 2025, declining by 0.6% YoY to US$194.8 billion. Nevertheless, the contraction was less severe than the 1% YoY decline recorded in the previous month.

This easing in contraction was mainly driven by growth in external debt from financial institutions, which rose 2.9% YoY after having contracted by 2.2% YoY in March 2025.

From an economic sector perspective, the majority of private external debt came from the Manufacturing Industry, Financial and Insurance Services, Electricity and Gas Supply, as well as the Mining and Quarrying sectors, accounting for 80% of the total private external debt. Long-term loans continue to dominate private external debt, representing 76.9% of the total.