Rupiah Predicted To Be Under Pressure, US Dollar Strengthens After Fed's Decision

Rupiah and US Dollars (Photo: dock. Antara)

JAKARTA - The rupiah exchange rate in trading on Thursday, September 18, 2025, is estimated to have the potential to weaken against the United States (US) dollar.

To note, citing Bloomberg, on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, the rupiah spot exchange rate closed higher by 0.02 percent to the level of Rp. 16,437 per US dollar. Meanwhile, the Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (Jisdor) exchange rate of Bank Indonesia (BI) closed down 0.27 percent to a price level of Rp. 16,430 per US dollar.

Doo Financial Futures analyst Lukman Leong said the rupiah exchange rate is expected to weaken against the US dollar which will strengthen after the Fed's decision to cut interest rates.

In addition, Lukman assessed that the strengthening of the US dollar was also triggered by a statement by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell who tended to be underdovish about future policy directions.

"The rupiah is expected to weaken against the US dollar which rebounds after the FOMC where the Fed will pass the interest rate as expected but the Fed Powell head's statement that is considered "less dovish" will cut in the future," he told VOI, Thursday, September 18.

He explained that the pressure on the rupiah also came from cutting interest rates by Bank Indonesia last Wednesday.

"The reduction in BI interest rates on Wednesday is still a burden on the rupiah," he said.

Lukman projects that the movement of the rupiah on Thursday, September 18, will move in the range of Rp. 16,400 per US dollar to Rp. 16,500 per US dollar.