Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto will evaluate the policy of mandatory US dollar storage for exporters within the country.

"We will conduct an evaluation of Foreign Exchange Earnings (DHE) because it has not been maximized in the past 3 months. We still see the potential of approximately US$8 billion of these foreign exchange reserves being parked elsewhere," said Airlangga in a press conference at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs in Central Jakarta on Monday (6/11).

He also addressed global uncertainties that impact Indonesia's export and import values.

Airlangga stated that current commodity prices are relatively lower than last year. Therefore, he does not deny that Indonesia's exports and imports have declined in terms of numbers.

"Furthermore, in terms of demand, there will be adjustments because we know that the global situation tends to wait and watch for developments," he added.

"That is why some government policies, including those within the country, allow the manufacturing sector, which usually exports, to exceed 50 percent, even though it was previously limited to 50 percent. The Ministry of Finance's regulations have been updated, and we have requested the Ministry of Industry to revise its regulations to further promote this," Airlangga added.

The dollar storage rule was issued by President Joko Widodo through Presidential Regulation Number 36 of 2023, which came into effect on August 1, 2023. This policy supersedes Presidential Regulation Number 1 of 2019, which required exporters to store DHE of 30 percent for three months.

Businesses that are required to store DHE are those with export values in the Export Customs Notification (PPE) of at least US$250,000. If the value is below this amount, exporters are not obliged to park their DHE in banks.

However, for businesses with export values below US$250,000, they can still voluntarily place their DHE in banks or other government financial institutions.