Rupiah touches Rp17,400 per US Dollar, BI says in line with global trends

Rupiah and US Dollar (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI) has spoken out regarding the weakening of the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar which today has broken through the Rp17,400 level.

Based on Bloomberg data on Tuesday, May 5 at 12.45 WIB, the exchange rate of the US dollar was recorded at Rp. 17,440 or weakened 0.26 percent compared to the previous closing.

On an annual basis, the US dollar has strengthened by 4.32 percent, and in the last 52 weeks, the US dollar movement has been in the range of IDR 16,079 to IDR 17,440.

Head of the Monetary and Asset Management Department of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Erwin G. Hutapea, explained that the weakening of the rupiah that has occurred recently is still in line with the trend experienced by a number of other countries' currencies, especially amid increasing global geopolitical tensions.

Several currencies recorded deeper losses, such as the Philippine peso which fell 6.58 percent, the Thai baht weakened 5.04 percent, the Indian rupee fell 4.32 percent, the Chilean peso weakened 4.24 percent, the Indonesian rupiah fell 3.65 percent, and the South Korean won weakened 2.29 percent.

"The movement of the rupiah since the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East until now is still in line with the majority of other emerging market currencies," he said in a written statement, Tuesday, May 5.

In the midst of this condition, Erwin emphasized that BI continues to be committed to being present in the market to maintain the stability of the rupiah exchange rate so that it continues to reflect the fundamentals of the economy.

He added that these efforts were carried out through the optimization of interventions in the foreign exchange market, both through Non-Deliverable Forward (NDF) transactions in the offshore market, spot transactions and Domestic Non-Deliverable Forward (DNDF) in the domestic market, as well as the purchase of State Securities (SBN) in the secondary market.

"This step is being taken consistently to maintain the stability of the rupiah exchange rate in the midst of continued global pressure," he said.