October 28, 2025
JAKARTA – Indonesia has collected 6 billion yuan (US$842.34 million) through its first-ever renminbi-denominated bond, or dim sum bond, marking its latest effort to diversify funding sources and broaden its global investor base.
The issuance, conducted on Oct. 23 with settlement on Oct. 31, comprised two tranches, a five-year 3.5-billion-yuan bond with a 2.5 percent coupon and a 10-year 2.5-billion-yuan bond offering 2.9 percent, below the initial guidance of 2.95 percent and 3.30 percent, respectively.
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Total orders reached around 18 billion yuan, or three times the issuance size, according to the Finance Ministry’s director general of budget financing and risk management.
Initial pricing had been suggested at about 45 basis points above market yields for the five-year tranche and 40 basis points for the 10-year tranche.
“The strong demand came from a broad base of global investors across the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific, with Asian investors, including those from China, dominating the book,” Suminto, the Finance Ministry’s director general of budget financing and risk management, said on Wednesday, as quoted by Kontan.
Proceeds from the sale would be used to finance the state budget in line with the government’s prudent debt management strategy, he added.
Suminto said the government would remain “flexible and opportunistic” regarding future bond issuances, including the choice of currencies, depending on market conditions and funding needs.
The bonds have been rated Baa2 by Moody’s, BBB by S&P and BBB by Fitch and are to be listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX-ST).
Bank of China, HSBC and Standard Chartered acted as joint lead managers for the transaction.
The successful issuance marks Indonesia’s first offshore yuan-denominated bond, following its panda bond issuances in mainland China, expanding its investor reach and reinforcing financial ties with Asia’s second-largest economy.
Dim sum bonds are renminbi-denominated debt obligations issued outside of Mainland China, while renminbi-denominated bonds issued by non-Chinese issuers inside Mainland China are known as panda bonds.
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The dim sum deal adds to a string of foreign-currency bond sales this year as Southeast Asia’s largest economy seeks to maintain funding stability amid global market volatility.
According to the state budget plan, the government aims to raise Rp 642.6 trillion ($39 billion) this year to bridge the gap between fiscal revenue and spending.
Indonesia has issued a series of foreign-currency bonds this year, including dual-currency US dollar and euro bonds in January and October, Islamic bonds in July, yen-denominated samurai bonds in June and Australian dollar-denominated kangaroo bonds in August.
The January issuance comprised a dual-currency, SEC-registered global bond worth $2 billion and 1.4 billion euros ($1.63 billion), followed by another in October raising $1.85 billion and 600 million euros.
Both offerings drew strong demand from global investors, with total order books exceeding US$4.9 billion and 3 billion euros, respectively.
The country also issued 103.2 billion yen ($699 million) in samurai bonds in May and 800 million Australian dollars in kangaroo bonds in August.