What happened
Foreign investors have put a net Rp 131.1 trillion into Indonesian financial assets since January 2026. Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara gave the figure on October 9 at APBN KiTa, the ministry's monthly briefing on the state budget, held in Central Jakarta.
He said the government is working to keep investor confidence intact and make it stronger. His core message was that appetite for rupiah assets has held up even as money leaves the stock market.
Where the money went
The headline number is the sum of three flows. The largest went into SRBI, short-dated rupiah securities issued by Bank Indonesia, the central bank. Those attracted Rp 178.6 trillion.
The second flow went into SBN, Indonesian government bonds, which brought in Rp 36.7 trillion. In the first six days of October alone, foreign buyers added close to Rp 8 trillion of SBN.
The third flow ran the other way. Over the past year, Rp 84.2 trillion left Indonesian equities. Add the SRBI and SBN inflows, subtract the equity outflow, and you arrive at Rp 131.1 trillion.
An uneven year
The year started badly. Foreign inflows contracted in early 2026, which the minister acknowledged.
The second quarter brought a sharp rebound, with Rp 140.6 trillion coming in. Flows then cooled in the third quarter. The fourth quarter has started on a positive note, with Rp 22.01 trillion recorded up to October 7.
The minister's argument
Suahasil drew a line between short and long maturities. SRBI are short-term instruments. SBN include some short issues, but most are long-dated. In his view, the longer the paper foreign investors are willing to hold, the more it signals trust in Indonesian sovereign debt.
He did not play down the equity outflow. He argued that close coordination between fiscal and monetary policy is absorbing the pressure, with bond and SRBI inflows covering the gap. The trend, he said, reflects the appeal of rupiah assets and confidence in Indonesia's macroeconomic stability.
Context: short money and long money
SRBI and SBN serve different purposes for a foreign investor. SRBI offer a rupiah yield over a short horizon and are easy to enter and exit. Such holdings react quickly to interest rate moves and to the mood of global markets.
Long-dated government bonds demand more conviction. The buyer agrees to carry rupiah debt for years and accepts currency and inflation risk over the whole period. That explains why the minister highlighted the October pickup in SBN buying.
The equity outflow shows the other side of the picture. Stock prices reflect expectations for the profits of Indonesian companies, and over the past year foreign investors have been net sellers there. The overall balance is positive, but it rests mainly on debt instruments.
Why it matters in Bali
Bali's villa market runs on two currencies. Prices for foreign buyers are often quoted in US dollars, while construction, staff, utilities and local taxes are paid in rupiah. The exchange rate therefore affects both the entry price and the running costs of an owner.
The composition of the inflow matters as much as its size. The biggest share went into short-term central bank paper, and that kind of money can leave as quickly as it arrives. Equity outflows have now lasted a full year. The Rp 131.1 trillion figure shows demand for rupiah assets today. It says nothing certain about where the currency will be a year from now.
The minister gave no forecast for the rupiah and did not discuss the property market. His assessment concerned investor confidence in rupiah financial assets and in the country's macroeconomic stability.