Indonesia policymaker : Paper is white..... eeech white and paper what...??? What is white paper? All paper is white right...?
LOL.
Those FX reserve is also based on loan. But don't tell that to any Indonesian, they most likely won't understand such things anyway.
Well yeah, USD or any foreign currency is not legal tender within Indonesia. Thus it held even when given as capital account (loans, investments, bonds etc) and the equivalent in rupiah is converted inside for actual use.
Hence why generally the forex reserves is held by central bank given it is tied to issuing authority of the local country's currency...and scale wise largely dependent on things like the country's credit rating.
Huge amount of Indian forex reserves are what are known as "NRI Bonds" for example....given current account is generally in deficit (so can't accumulate forex that way).
Most people don't understand or know the basic process....or even what capital account is (current account is much more visible/touchable etc).
Indonesia policymaker : Yes there are planning (plural) for comparative studies abroad (read : vacation). And there are also planning for how to spend the budget and to request for more budget in next fiscal year.
@Joe Shearer will appreciate your frank take on things.
Seems our bureaucracies are not all that different in the end.