Indonesia's external debt rises slightly to 454.8 bln USD in July

JAKARTA, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's external debt edged up to 454.8 billion U.S. dollars in July from 454.5 billion dollars in June, Bank Indonesia said Tuesday.

On a year-on-year basis, the country's external debt grew 4.9 percent, mainly driven by an increase in public-sector external debt amid a decline in private-sector debt, said Ramdan Denny Prakoso, executive director of Bank Indonesia's Communications Department.

Government external debt stood at 218.4 billion dollars, up 3.2 percent year on year, mainly due to inflows into international government securities. The debt was used to support sectors including health, government administration, education, construction and transportation.

Meanwhile, private-sector external debt fell 1.2 percent year on year to 194.5 billion dollars, with the largest shares coming from the manufacturing, financial services and insurance, electricity and gas, and mining sectors.

Bank Indonesia said the country's external debt structure remained healthy, with the external debt-to-gross domestic product ratio at 30.7 percent and long-term debt accounting for the majority of the total.