JAKARTA, INDONESIA / RankWire.AI / – Foreign investment into Indonesia’s financial markets reached Rp131.1 trillion, roughly $7.33 billion, by early October 2026. Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara shared this cumulative figure during the government’s monthly state budget briefing in Jakarta. The Finance Ministry indicated that government securities and Bank Indonesia instruments made up the majority of the inflows. Despite ongoing selling in the domestic equity market, recent data showed that foreign demand for rupiah assets remained positive.
Year to date, foreign holdings of government securities, known locally as SBN, reached Rp36.7 trillion, equivalent to about $2.05 billion. During the first six days of October alone, overseas investors added nearly Rp8 trillion to their government bond holdings. Additionally, Bank Indonesia Rupiah Securities, or SRBI, attracted significant nonresident funds throughout 2026. Official data from the central bank revealed nonresident SRBI recorded Rp176.50 trillion in net settlement inflows from January 2 to October 8.
The overall trend in capital flows shifted notably during the year, with early 2026 seeing a contraction of foreign capital before net inflows surged to Rp140.6 trillion in the second quarter. Flows then slowed during the third quarter, but the fourth quarter started with renewed net buying, and by October 7, net foreign inflows for the quarter reached Rp22.01 trillion, approximately $1.23 billion. These figures highlight the uneven pace of foreign investment across Indonesia’s financial markets during 2026.
Government securities and Bank Indonesia instruments dominate inflows
In contrast, the equity market experienced net foreign outflows, with Indonesian shares totaling Rp84.2 trillion, or about $4.70 billion, for the year so far. However, inflows into bonds and central bank securities more than offset this selling in the government’s overall market-flow calculations. The Finance Ministry emphasized that fixed-income instruments represented the strongest foreign demand during this period and noted ongoing interest in rupiah-denominated assets in its October fiscal update.
Indonesia’s sovereign bond market also exhibited tighter yields relative to comparable U.S. debt, with the yield spread between 10-year rupiah government bonds and 10-year U.S. Treasuries narrowing to 188 basis points. The Finance Ministry pointed out that this compares to spreads that could reach about 1,000 basis points two decades ago, reflecting the latest capital flow data and the government’s assessment of the domestic bond market conditions.
Reserves stay near $146 billion
Bank Indonesia reported official reserve assets of $146.3 billion at the end of September, a slight decline from $146.5 billion in August. The September total covered 5.3 months of imports, according to the central bank, and also supported 5.2 months of combined imports and external debt servicing. Bank Indonesia stated that the reserve level remained above the international adequacy benchmark of around three months of imports. Factors influencing the September reserve position included government foreign borrowing and tax and service receipts.
The central bank noted that foreign capital inflows continued to bolster Indonesia’s external-sector resilience along with its reserve position. Maintaining its policy rate at 5.75% at the September meeting, Bank Indonesia also reported $0.4 billion in third-quarter portfolio inflows through September 21, which included government global bond issuance and domestic government securities purchases. These latest figures place the Rp131.1 trillion year-to-date inflow within a broader trend favoring fixed-income assets while equities continued to see foreign selling.