Indonesia plans to sell first Asian sovereign dollar bond of 2026

[JAKARTA] Indonesia plans to sell US-dollar bonds, the first such offering by an Asian sovereign this year, giving further impetus to a record start to global debt issuance by borrowers in 2026. 

South-east Asia’s largest economy started marketing fixed-rate bonds with maturity of a little over five, 10 and 30 years, said sources, who asked not to be identified while talking about confidential information. 

The sale comes as the administration of President Prabowo Subianto looks to fund a Budget deficit that risks exceeding the legal cap set at 3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026.

Indonesia has set its Budget deficit target at 2.68 per cent of GDP this year, with total net bond issuance – including local and foreign-currency debt – pegged at 799.5 trillion rupiah (S$61.2 billion) in 2026.

The gap hit the highest level in at least two decades in 2025. 

Citigroup raised its 2026 Budget deficit forecast to 3.5 per cent of GDP from 2.7 per cent, citing expectations of faster spending on the free-meals programme and larger transfers to regional governments. [BLOOMBERG]