Bisnis.com, JAKARTA — Foreign investors have been among the largest holders of the government bond (SBN) during the presidencies of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), Joko Widodo (Jokowi), and Prabowo Subianto.
SBN, or the government bond, is a key government financing instrument for the state budget. This type of Indonesian government bond has seen its outstanding amount continue to grow from the SBY era through Jokowi’s and into Prabowo’s presidency.
According to the Finance Ministry’s Financing and Risk Management Directorate General data, compiled by Bisnis on Friday (15/8/2025), the outstanding SBN value has continued to rise from the end of August 2004 to the latest figures as of August 11, 2025, now reaching IDR6,420.62 trillion as of August 11. This reflects an increase of IDR6,026.23 trillion compared to IDR394.39 trillion in August 2004.
At the end of each term, both SBY and Jokowi left behind the largest amount of outstanding SBN debt. In August 2004, during SBY’s era, the outstanding SBN reached a peak of IDR1,173.57 trillion, with foreign investors holding 37%, or IDR434.2 trillion. At the start of SBY’s term, foreign holdings were only IDR6.97 trillion or 1.77%.
Under Jokowi, government debt from SBN rose significantly to IDR5,881.72 trillion in August 2024, with foreign investors holding IDR852.31 trillion or 14.49%. This level was almost half of the highest foreign ownership proportion since August 2004.
The peak proportion was 39.01% in August 2007, while the highest nominal value was IDR1,009.6 trillion in August 2019. After that, foreign holdings in SBN declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting the government to rely on large domestic investors such as commercial banks and Bank Indonesia.
Entering the early period of Prabowo’s presidency, foreign investors still held IDR938.28 trillion, or 14.61% of the total outstanding SBN, worth IDR6,420.62 trillion. Foreign holdings have risen by IDR61.64 trillion year-to-date on the back of expectations for interest rate cuts. Bank Indonesia remains the largest investor, holding IDR1,553.91 trillion or 24.2%, followed by commercial banks with IDR1,302.83 trillion or 20.29%.
Director of government bonds at the Finance Ministry, Novi Puspita Wardani, stated that the entry of foreign investors into the bond market was evident in the government bond or Surat Utang Negara (SUN) auction held last Tuesday (12/8/2025), which broke the record for the highest incoming bids at IDR162.32 trillion.
Notably, five of the 10 largest incoming bids in SUN auction history occurred in 2025. In the latest auction, foreign investors participated with IDR34.1 trillion, accounting for 21.01% of the total bids.
“The winning bids amounted to IDR3.46 trillion, or 10.82% of total awarded bids,” she told Bisnis on Wednesday (13/8/2025).
She noted that the largest portion of foreign investor funds was allocated to the FR0109 series, which has a six-year tenor. She added that the level of foreign investor interest this time was higher than before, though she did not disclose the foreign-specific bid and winning amounts for this series.
“The total incoming bids for this new series, FR0109, reached IDR88.06 trillion, or 54.25% of total incoming bids,” she said.
