Rupiah Again Prints the Lowest Record in History, the US Dollar Reaches Rp17,856

JAKARTA - The rupiah exchange rate again experienced pressure against the US dollar (USD) in Thursday, May 28 trade.

Referring to Bloomberg data at 09.42 WIB, the rupiah was recorded at Rp17,856 per US dollar or weakened 55 points equivalent to 0.31 percent.

This weakening is the latest all-time low for the rupiah amid increasing uncertainty due to the US-Iran conflict and spotlight on the state of the state budget.

Previously, Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa assessed that the weakening of the rupiah at this time was considered unnatural.

According to him, the pressure on the rupiah occurred when the Indonesian economic fundamentals were in good condition.

"The economy is good, this happens when the fundamentals are good. This doesn't make sense actually. It usually weakens if there are disturbances in the fundamentals," Purbaya told the media, Wednesday, May 27.

When asked about the possibility of the government re-performing a stress test on the State Budget (APBN) due to the trend of weakening the rupiah, Purbaya ensured that this was not necessary.

"Yes, I'm stressed, no (no stress test)," he said.

He explained that the government had actually anticipated a weakening of the exchange rate scenario from the beginning, including through simulations of higher assumptions for the world crude oil price and its impact on the rupiah exchange rate.

"We have calculated. At the time of the simulation of 102 US dollars per barrel, the rupiah assumption has also been calculated," he said.

According to him, there are still a number of factors that help maintain the stability of the financial market, one of which is the decline in government bond yields.

He said that although the rupiah had weakened, the bond market was still relatively under control, and this stability was supported by the government's steps and various parties in maintaining market conditions so that the pressure would not increase.

"So there is no problem. I don't have to recalculate the APBN. Even though the rupiah is weakening, the yield growth of the bond is down," he said.