Indonesia said Monday the foreign exchange reserves topped 50.3 billion U.S. dollars early this month to set a new record high thanks to surpluses in the balance of payment.

Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah said in an open hearing with a House of Representatives commission the balance of payment now had a surplus of 4.6 billion dollars and lifted the international reserves from 49.3 billion dollars at the end of April.

Never before have the reserves breached the 50 billion dollars level.

Abdullah also said the continued foreign capital flow to the country helped strengthen the rupiah against the U.S. dollar and reduce volatility.

"The rupiah has made significant gains over the last few months and we expect the upward trend will continue with minimum volatility," he said.

The rupiah traded at around 8,780 per for 1 dollar Monday morning, against the average 9,096 in April and 9,196 in March, according to the central bank data.

Source: Xinhua