Sri Mulyani Says The Rupiah Exchange Rate Is Not Weakening, But...

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that the weakening of the rupiah exchange rate against the United States (US) dollar which almost penetrated Rp. 16,000 could not be separated from global uncertainty.

Sri Mulyani emphasized that the weakening of the rupiah exchange rate against the dollar was not purely due to the weakening rupiah performance but because of the stronger dollar exchange rate.

"So actually, our rupiah is in a relatively good position to depreciate. So the cause may not be the rupiah. However, because the United States (US) dollar is strengthening," said Sri Mulyani at a press conference, Wednesday, October 25.

Sri Mulyani said that until October 20, 2023, the movement of the rupiah had only weakened 0.7 percent year to date, and she reminded that the movement of the rupiah was not only seen in nominal terms but compared to year to date or at the end of 2022.

"Although Indonesians usually see a nominal value, if we look at the movement of the exchange rate year to date, the depreciation is at 0.7 percent." he explained.

Sri Mulyani said that the movement of the US dollar strengthened by 2.7 percent ytd and the weakening of the rupiah was better than the weakening of other countries' currencies.

For information, in the same period Yen's currency weakened by 14.3 percent ytd, Ringgit fell 8.3 percent ytd, Won fell 6.9 percent ytd, and Baht weakened 5.5 percent ytd.

"We see our neighboring countries the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Koreans, even Malaysia, Rupees are all experiencing a deep depreciation," he explained.

"In this case, Indonesia experienced a 0.7 percent depreciation with this condition, not only the Rupiah weakened. However, many currencies have weakened. So, it is because the US dollar tends to be very strong," he added.