Bank Indonesia Launches RMB Clearing Bank and Signs Local-Currency Settlement Pacts with ASEAN Central Banks
Bank of China's Jakarta branch is appointed as RMB clearing bank as Indonesia-China LCT volume reaches $43.89 billion in nine months, while BI signs cooperation with the Philippines' BSP and joins an LCT framework with Malaysia and Thailand.
Bank Indonesia on 13 November formally launched a Renminbi clearing bank arrangement, appointing Bank of China (Hong Kong) Jakarta Branch as the clearing bank, following a June 2026 memorandum with the People's Bank of China. Local-currency settlement between Indonesia and China reached US$43.89 billion in January-September 2026, already exceeding the US$13.19 billion recorded for all of 2025, with 83.49% of Indonesia's LCT volume coming from China. Twelve banks are appointed as cross-currency dealers, including Mandiri, BNI, BRI, BCA, CIMB Niaga, OCBC, Danamon, Permata, Sinarmas, Maybank, CCB and ICBC.
The same day, BI signed a cooperation memorandum with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas covering local-currency transactions, cross-border payment, digital financial innovation and cybersecurity, and joined a renewed local-currency settlement framework with Malaysia's BNM and Thailand's BOT. The moves put operational weight on the twelve appointed dealer banks, which must now run full end-to-end LCT operations - corporate onboarding, transaction documentation, compliance records and cross-border reconciliation - a substantial new administrative workload layered onto existing trade finance processes.