Long Unheard, BI Opens Voice About Rupiah Redenomination Plan

Senior Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia Destry Damayanti (Photo: Capture Youtube DPD RI)

JAKARTA Bank Indonesia (BI) provides the latest information with a plan to simplify the value of the rupiah currency without changing the exchange rate or redenomination.

This was conveyed by Senior Deputy Governor Destry Damayanti while attending a working meeting with the Regional Representative Council (DPD) at the Senayan Parliament Complex, Jakarta.

According to him, this discourse was prepared quite carefully in 2019. In fact, the central bank has provided an implementation scheme up to the MSME level. He also believes that the system in the national financial sector is able to support this strategic step.

“Kami di BI sebenarnya gemes bahwa kita akan lebih bagus kalau redenominasi karena menyederhanakan (angka ribuan menjadi satuan). Waktu 2019 kesiapan kita kencang sekali, karena saat itu sudah memenuhi persyaratan kondisi ekonomi yang stabil, politik stabil, dan kesiapan teknis yang tinggi,” tuturnya tengah pekan ini.

Destry revealed that the redenomination plan was not executed due to the COVID-19 pandemic the following year. He also said that the biggest challenge in implementation was not from changing records in the financial system but the potential for naughty people in the field.

There is something we are worried about, namely controlling these items. If he is naughty, it will not be changed from Rp50,000 to Rp50 but Rp75. This is what makes the value different later. Bank Indonesia cannot do it alone and must receive support from the relevant authorities," he said.

To note, the excesses caused by changes in the value of goods in question are closely related to inflation. The reason is, the more money in the community, the higher the inflation rate will be. Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia itself is very concerned about inflation because it is closely related to the rupiah exchange rate against foreign currencies.