Jakarta. Indonesia’s government debt reached Rp 8,560.36 trillion ($$539.4 billion) by the end of October 2024, according to data from the Finance Ministry, as outlined in the November 2024 edition of the APBN Kita (Our State Budget) report released on Thursday

The debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 38.66 percent, well below the legal safe limit of 60 percent as stipulated in Law No. 17/2003 on State Finance.

The composition of government debt predominantly consists of Government Securities (SBN), which account for Rp 7,550.70 trillion or 88.21 percent of the total. The remaining Rp 1,009.66 trillion, or 11.79 percent, is made up of loans.

The SBN is further divided into domestic SBN, valued at Rp 6,606.68 trillion (77.18 percent), and foreign currency-denominated SBN, worth Rp 944.02 trillion (11.03 percent). Domestic SBN includes government bonds valued at Rp 5,104.38 trillion and sharia-compliant bonds (sukuk) worth Rp 1,502.30 trillion. Meanwhile, foreign currency SBN comprises government bonds totaling Rp 912.61 trillion and sukuk valued at Rp 31.41 trillion.

Loans, which amount to Rp 1,009.66 trillion, consist of Rp 42.25 trillion in domestic loans and Rp 967.41 trillion in foreign loans. These foreign loans are further categorized into bilateral loans of Rp 263.33 trillion, multilateral loans of Rp 571.47 trillion, and commercial bank loans totaling Rp 132.61 trillion.

The ownership of domestic SBN is dominated by local investors, who hold 85.02 percent, while foreign investors own 14.98 percent, including foreign governments and central banks. Among domestic investors, financial institutions are the largest holders, accounting for 41.3 percent of SBN ownership. This includes banks at 19.3 percent, insurance companies and pension funds at 18.8 percent, and mutual funds at 3.2 percent. Bank Indonesia holds 24.7% of domestic SBN, utilizing them primarily for monetary management purposes.

The government’s efforts to expand the investor base and promote financial inclusion have led to a significant rise in individual ownership of domestic SBN. Retail investors now account for 8.6 percent of domestic SBN ownership as of October 2024, a substantial increase from less than 3 percent in 2019. This shift reflects the government’s strategy to transition the public from a savings-focused society to one oriented toward investment, while institutional investors continue to use SBN to meet investment and financial management needs.