Central Banking
Reserve manager of the year: Bank Indonesia
The Asian central bank stabilised the rupiah’s fall during the Covid-19 pandemic in large part due to its new macro-factor strategic asset allocation framework
Photo: Christopher Jeffery
Bank Indonesia has not only weathered the Covid-19 crisis, but done so while boosting its foreign exchange reserves to a new record high of $138 billion as of January 2021. The portfolio now represents around 12.5% of GDP, and could finance 10 months of imports – well above the international three-month minimum adequacy standard. While reserves fell in the first quarter of 2020, they remained relatively stable on an annual basis, growing as part of a long-term gradual upward trend.