Jakarta. The government debt stood at Rp 7,496 trillion ($477 billion) as of October 31, an increase of Rp 76.23 trillion from the figures a month earlier, according to Finance Ministry data released on Monday.

The current sovereign debt accounts for 38.36 percent of Indonesia’s gross domestic product, down slightly from 39.96 percent in September. 

"The ratio of debt to GDP remains within the safe, reasonable, and controllable limit in line with optimized diversification of our portfolios,” the ministry said in a statement.

The 2003 Law on State Finance limits the debt percentage of GDP to 60 percent.

A vast majority of government debt, or 89 percent, is in the form of state bonds, equivalent to Rp 6,670 trillion.

The government mostly sells bonds in rupiah denomination amounting to Rp 5,271 trillion.

It also borrowed money from other governments and commercial banks totaling Rp 826 trillion, including Rp 810 trillion from foreign debtors.

The share of foreign buyers of Indonesia’s state bonds dropped by 5 points to 14 percent as of November 14 compared to December 2021.

The ministry said it prioritizes rupiah debt to avoid the impact of the highly volatile exchange rate that negatively affects foreign debt repayments.