Jakarta. Indonesia plans a comprehensive review of its export earnings retention policy after the measure failed to deliver a meaningful boost to the country’s foreign-exchange reserves, senior officials said Monday.

Chief Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto said the government will reassess the implementation of the regulation on the placement of export proceeds, known as DHE SDA, in the domestic financial system.

“The challenge in DHE implementation doesn’t come from exporters, but rather from disruptions in fund transfers,” Airlangga told reporters at his office. “We will evaluate it thoroughly; this policy has only been in effect for a few months.”

The government will revise Government Regulation No. 8/2025, which mandates exporters in key resource sectors --including mining (excluding oil and gas), plantations, forestry, and fisheries-- to keep 100 percent of their export proceeds in the country's financial system for at least 12 months. The funds must be held in special accounts at domestic banks.

The regulation, introduced early this year, includes exemptions for small exporters. Transactions below $250,000 per shipment are not subject to the DHE requirement, offering flexibility for small and medium-sized exporters to stay competitive internationally.

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa confirmed that the policy’s impact on reserves has been underwhelming so far.

“The DHE rule will be reviewed. I’m not sure if it will be revised, but the results so far have not significantly affected our foreign reserves,” Purbaya said during an inspection at the Graha Segara Integrated Cargo Terminal in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

Indonesia’s foreign reserves fell to $148.7 billion in September 2025, down from $150.7 billion in August, according to data from Bank Indonesia. The decline was attributed to external debt payments and central bank interventions to stabilize the rupiah. The reserves position remains sufficient to cover 6.2 months of imports or 6 months of imports and government external debt payments, above the international adequacy standard of 3 months.

Minister of State Secretariat Prasetyo Hadi said the government is still assessing how far the DHE policy has influenced the reserves level. “Exporters have begun placing their funds in the domestic market, but the results have not been as encouraging as we hoped,” Prasetyo said on Sunday.

He acknowledged that the regulation’s implementation remains uneven and that improvements are needed. “There are still areas where export proceeds are not yet optimized. That’s why the president has instructed that the policy be studied again,” Prasetyo said.

Add as a preferred source on Google +