Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Indonesia, S. Korea agree to sign currency swap deal


Indonesia and South Korea have agreed to sign Bilateral Currency Swap Arrangement (BCSA) worth US$10 billion or around Rp115 trillion which is effective for three years.

"The Bilateral Currency Swap Arrangement is aimed at promoting bilateral trade and strengthening beneficial financial cooperation between the two countries," Executive Director of Bank Indonesia`s Communication Department Difi Johansyah said here on Sunday.

Bank Indonesia and Bank of Korea believed that the agreement, which was signed on Saturday, would contribute positively to the regional financial market, and to strengthen bilateral economic as well as financial cooperation amidst the global economic uncertainty.

Earlier, on October 1, 2013, the Indonesian central bank, Bank Indonesia (BI), and its counterpart, Chinese Central Bank, extended their Bilateral Swap Agreement (BSA) which they signed in 2009 in an effort to reinforce their countries` financial systems.

"The document for the extension of the agreement was signed yesterday evening," BI Deputy Governor Perry Wirjiyo said on the sidelines of a working meeting with the House Budgetary Body.

He added that the extension of the BSA worth US$15 billion was a follow-up step taken by BI to guarantee available foreign exchange reserves for partner countries, particularly when reserves are needed quickly.

BI had previously also signed a BSA extension with the Bank of Japan. The agreed value in the BAS was US$12 billion, which went into effect on August 31, 2013.

By signing currency swap agreements with the three economic partner countries, the government has received commitment worth US$37 billion for protecting the resilience of foreign exchange reserves.

The government has also had standby loan worth US$5.5 billion from multilateral partners to maintain the economic growth rate and macro economic stability comprehensively.



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