By Maikel Jefriando

JAKARTA, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Indonesia's finance minister said on Monday she wants to reduce foreigners' holdings of government bonds over the near term to 20% from almost 40% currently.

Government data dated August 15 showed non-resident investors held 38.5% of the total Rp2,613.6trn (US$184bn) worth of tradable sovereign bonds.

The high ownership level has at times been a source of volatility in Indonesia's financial markets, especially during times of heightened risk aversion when foreign investors seek to return to safe-haven assets.

"The bigger our domestic (investor) base, the more stable it would be because they understand our market condition," Sri Mulyani Indrawati told reporters.

"We hope to reach 20% in the near future and that involves a lot of promotions to new investors," Indrawati said, adding that her ministry relies on rising demand from Indonesia's growing middle class.

(Reporting by Maikel Jefriando Writing by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Sam Holmes)

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