Indonesia Fully Repays 1997 Crisis BLBI Debt, Suahasil Announces - Tempo.co English

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara stated that state obligations on debt securities issued to handle the 1997–1998 Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) crisis were fully settled in August 2026.

"Now, the debt securities issued to navigate the 1997–1998 financial crisis were fully settled as of August. This is our achievement," Suahasil said in an official statement broadcast on the Finance Ministry’s YouTube channel, cited in Jakarta on Sunday, September 20, 2026, as reported by Antara.

The payoff was financed using a surplus from Bank Indonesia (BI) deposited into the State Treasury. Suahasil explained that the central bank’s surplus was identified during the audit of the 2025 financial year. In accordance with existing regulations, Bank Indonesia then transferred the excess funds directly to the state treasury.

As a result, the Ministry of Finance received revenue from Separated State Wealth (KND) amounting to Rp58 trillion. "Its use is regulated to pay obligations or settle the Indonesian debt securities. The state debt securities issued during the 1997–1998 crisis," Suahasil noted.

Suahasil deployed the central bank surplus specifically to clear obligations tied to the 1997–1998 financial bailout. The final clearance of BLBI-related debt securities follows the earlier redemption of recapitalization bonds completed in July 2020.

“There were several types of bonds issued at that time (1997-1998 crisis). Now, some were settled in July 2020, and there were those settled last month (August),” Suahasil said.