Rancak Media – , JAKARTA — Bank Indonesia (BI) has responded to criticisms from Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa regarding the issuance of the central bank’s debt securities, known as Bank Indonesia Rupiah Securities (SRBI).
This clarification was delivered by BI Senior Deputy Governor Destry Damayanti during the Financial Forum held at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) in Jakarta on Wednesday, December 3, 2025. The forum also saw the attendance of Finance Minister Purbaya himself, along with the Chairman of the Financial Services Authority (OJK), Mahendra Siregar, the Chairman of the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS), and the Chairman of House Commission XI, Misbakhun.
Minister Purbaya reiterated his concerns about SRBI at the forum, having previously highlighted the same issue during a meeting with House Commission XI last week. He pointed out that significant investor funds were flowing into SRBI despite the government’s injection of Rp200 trillion into the financial system via state-owned banks (Himbara) and Bank Jakarta. This amount represented government cash held at BI, which Purbaya had strategically placed in September 2025.
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Purbaya specifically noted the growth of the money supply, or base money (M0), which had surged to 13% in September 2025, a growth he attributed to his decision to transfer government cash from BI to state-owned banks. However, this growth subsequently slowed to 7% in October 2025. Consequently, he decided to inject an additional Rp76 trillion into Bank Mandiri, BRI, BNI, and Bank Jakarta.
“I hear that conditions in the banking sector are tightening a bit again now, because I see my bond yields [government bonds] rising again from 5.9% to 6.3%,” he stated at the event at BEI Jakarta on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.
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The Finance Minister, who also chairs the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), expressed his bewilderment regarding the slowdown in money supply growth. He then pointed to the substantial absorption of funds into SRBI, the debt securities issued by Bank Indonesia some time ago.
Purbaya suspected that the movement of funds within the system towards SRBI contributed to the decelerated money supply growth.
“There is perhaps an excessive absorption of funds into SRBI by BI, possibly to maintain the exchange rate? I’m not sure, but it is clear that there is an absorption of funds there that is pushing down [base money growth],” he explained.
In response, BI Deputy Governor Destry Damayanti clarified that the central bank employs a mix of monetary policies to maintain stability, while macroprudential policies are used to stimulate economic growth.
Destry emphasized that this does not imply that the central bank’s monetary policy is solely contractionary. She highlighted that BI also undertakes expansionary monetary policies, including purchasing government bonds (SBN) worth approximately Rp290 trillion since the beginning of the year.
“Perhaps I should also balance what the Finance Minister said earlier, that BI is not just contractionary, but also has an expansionary role. We have purchased around Rp290 trillion in SBN throughout 2025,” she elaborated at the forum.
Beyond SBN purchases, BI also provides FX swap and repo facilities for banks, with their accumulated values each exceeding Rp1,000 trillion.
Regarding SRBI specifically, Destry explained that the central bank’s contractionary measures are primarily for liquidity management and to ensure stability. She noted that when significant foreign capital outflows occur, SRBI acts as a trigger to attract investor capital inflows.
The mechanism, according to the two-term Senior Deputy Governor, involves raising SRBI interest rates. This adjustment was made after SRBI rates had fallen sharply, mirroring the 125 basis point (bps) reduction in the BI rate this year.
“SRBI rates had fallen quite deeply; the BI rate dropped by 125 basis points, but SRBI rates declined by as much as 200 basis points. We are now attempting to normalize SRBI rates, increasing them slightly compared to three weeks ago, and we are observing inflows beginning to materialize, both into SRBI and SBN,” she explained.
Summary
Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa criticized Bank Indonesia’s (BI) issuance of Bank Indonesia Rupiah Securities (SRBI), raising concerns about a slowdown in money supply growth. Despite government injections totaling Rp276 trillion into the financial system, base money growth decelerated from 13% in September 2025 to 7% in October 2025. Purbaya suspected that SRBI’s significant absorption of funds contributed to this slowdown and noted an increase in government bond yields.
In response, BI Senior Deputy Governor Destry Damayanti clarified that BI employs a mixed monetary policy, combining contractionary measures for stability with expansionary actions, such as purchasing Rp290 trillion in government bonds (SBN). She explained that SRBI primarily serves as a liquidity management tool, designed to attract capital inflows and ensure stability, especially during foreign capital outflows. BI recently adjusted SRBI rates upwards for normalization, which has already begun to attract investor funds into both SRBI and SBN.
