Indonesia closed 2025 with its highest-ever nominal government debt figure, coming close to the Rp10,000 trillion thresholds for the first time. Data released by the Directorate General of Debt Management and Risk (DJPPR) on February 13, 2026, recorded a Rp229.26 trillion increase compared to the end of Q3 2025 — a rise the government attributes directly to fiscal pressure stemming from an economic slowdown that sparked social unrest in mid-2025. The debt profile, however, is structured predominantly in rupiah-denominated instruments, a deliberate design intended to limit exposure to foreign exchange volatility.
Key Facts & Background
- Total central government debt as of December 31, 2025 stood at Rp9,637.9 trillion, up from Rp8,813.16 trillion at the end of 2024 — an annual increase of approximately Rp824.74 trillion.
- The debt is 87.02% composed of government securities (SBN) at Rp8,387.23 trillion, with the remaining 12.98% from loans totaling Rp1,250.67 trillion.
- Within the SBN portion, Rp6,750.26 trillion is denominated in rupiah, while Rp1,636.98 trillion is in foreign currency — up from Rp1,498.46 trillion in 2024. For loans, the majority — Rp1,192.15 trillion — comes from foreign sources, including bilateral (Rp658.40 trillion), multilateral, and commercial lenders.
- The debt-to-GDP ratio reached 40.46% by end of 2025, still within the legal ceiling of 60% set by Law No. 17 of 2003 on State Finance.
- Interest payments on government debt are projected to reach Rp599.4 trillion in the 2026 state budget — a figure that does not yet include principal repayments on maturing obligations.
- Indonesia’s external debt ratio stood at 29.9% of GDP in Q4 2025, with long-term debt accounting for 85.7% of total external obligations — a structure Bank Indonesia describes as healthy.
- Starting in 2025, the Ministry of Finance shifted from monthly to quarterly debt disclosures, citing the need to align debt-to-GDP ratios with BPS GDP releases rather than interim projections.
Note: Multi-source AI data analytics, acknowledging the possibility of inaccuracies.
Insights
Indonesia’s Rp9,638 trillion debt tells two stories at once — the government holding things together under pressure, and the cracks quietly forming underneath. The choice iss between borrowing more or risking a collapse on the scale of 1998. That’s a defensible position, and a 40.46% debt-to-GDP ratio is still well within legal limits. But the ratio alone doesn’t show the full picture. More than Rp800 trillion in debt is coming due every year between 2025 and 2027, and global lenders are increasingly pushing for shorter repayment windows — three to five years — which leaves less room to maneuver. On top of that, the government quietly moved from monthly to quarterly debt reports, meaning the public now gets fewer checkpoints to track how fast things are moving.
Keeping most debt in rupiah does reduce currency risk — but it puts more pressure on the domestic financial system and could crowd out private borrowing over time. The real question isn’t how big the debt number is today. It’s whether Indonesia can collect enough tax revenue fast enough to pay for it tomorrow — without the debt bill slowly eating the budget from the inside.