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Indonesian Bonds Flourishing After BI Surprise
Aloysius Unditu | February 10, 2012

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Indonesian bonds continued to rally going into the weekend, a day after the central bank loosened its monetary policy and intervened in the bond market.

Lingering positive market response to the recent investment grade status by ratings agencies also helped bond prices rally in recent days, bond and currency analysts and economists said in Jakarta on Friday.

Bank Indonesia cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to a record-low 5.75 percent in a surprise move on Thursday, part of its bid to maintain economic growth amid concern of a slowdown caused by the euro zone’s debt woes and global weakness.

Dino Nunuhitu, a fixed income trader at Indo Premier Securities in Jakarta, said the latest monetary easing by Bank Indonesia had helped the country’s debt market flourish. He said foreign investors were increasingly looking for long-term bonds.

The central bank has engaged in intervention by buying government bonds to stabilize the debt market, and it has also stepped into the currency market by buying rupiah with dollars, according to one analyst who declined to be identified.

The yield on the country’s 10-year bond, maturing in 2022, fell to 5 percent on Friday from 5.03 percent the previous day, according to data from the Indonesia Bond Pricing Agency. The risk premium, as measured by the credit default swap — insurance against failed bets — declined to 194.085 points on Friday from 456.225 points on Oct. 4 last year.

The rupiah was little changed for the week at 8,993 to the dollar.

A fixed-income analyst in Jakarta, who declined to be identified, said offshore funds would continue to chase Indonesian assets, especially long-term bonds.

Perry Warjiyo, a director of research and monetary affairs at Bank Indonesia, said the inflow of foreign funds was expected to continue this year, which may help lift the country’s foreign-exchange reserves. International reserves stood at $111.9 billion as of Jan. 31.

Destry Damayanti, chief economist at Bank Mandiri, the nation’s largest lender by assets, said the recent ratings upgrades from Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings were helping the economy stay on track.

“Bond prices got a boost because of declining risk after we got investment-grade status,’’ Destry said. “Foreign funds continue to enter our secondary bond market.”