JAKARTA - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa assessed that the weakening of the rupiah exchange rate, which touched the level of Rp16,800 per US dollar, was temporary and would turn around as the performance of the national economy improved.
For information, quoting Bloomberg, on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at 10.11 WIB, the spot rupiah exchange rate was at the level of Rp16,869 per US dollar or strengthened 0.09 percent.
Purbaya explained that economic strengthening would encourage the inflow of foreign capital to Indonesia because investors tend to invest in countries with higher growth prospects.
"If the economy improves, the rupiah should strengthen as well, almost automatically, why because foreign capital will come in, they will come to a place that promises higher growth," he told the media, after the 2026 early year spirit event, Wednesday, January 14.
He said that Indonesia's economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 is estimated to be in the range of 5.45 percent, and has the potential to increase to close to 6 percent in the quarters in 2026.
According to Purbaya, the current Indonesian economic foundation is strong enough so that it does not need to be feared, in addition to foreign capital flows, funds belonging to Indonesian citizens who have been placed abroad are also expected to return to the country to support business activities.
Purbaya added that national business actors will prefer to invest and do business in the country as the opportunities and competitiveness of the domestic economy increase.
"The rupiah will come in because capital will come here and Indonesian people who are putting their money there will also go abroad. Why? He will do business here because Indonesians can't do business abroad, they are not used to competing there healthily," he explained.
Regarding the time of strengthening the rupiah, Purbaya estimates that the appreciation of the exchange rate can begin to be seen in about two weeks.
Previously, Bank Indonesia (BI) confirmed its commitment to continue to maintain the stability of the rupiah exchange rate amid increasing global financial market pressures at the beginning of 2026.
Head of the Monetary and Asset Management Department of the Securities of Bank Indonesia Erwin G. Hutapea said that various global sentiments, such as the escalation of geopolitical tensions, concerns about the independence of central banks in a number of developed countries, as well as uncertainty about the direction of monetary policy The Federal Reserve, also influenced the movement of world currencies, including the rupiah.
"This condition has encouraged the rupiah to weaken and closed at Rp16,860 per US dollar on January 13, 2026, or depreciated by 1.04 percent year-to-date," he said in a statement, Wednesday, January 14.
However, he conveyed that the weakening of the rupiah was still in line with the movement of other regional currencies which were also affected by global sentiments, such as the South Korean won which weakened 2.46 percent and the Philippine peso by 1.04 percent.
Erwin emphasized that the stability of the rupiah exchange rate remained maintained thanks to the consistency of the stabilization policy carried out by BI on an ongoing basis.
He added that the policy was taken through Non Deliverable Forward (NDF) intervention in the Asian, European, and American off-shore markets, as well as intervention in the domestic market through spot transactions, Domestic NDF (DNDF), and the purchase of State Securities (SBN) in the secondary market.
In addition, Erwin said that the continued inflow of foreign capital also supported the stability of the rupiah, where in January 2026, net foreign capital inflows were recorded at IDR 11.11 trillion, mainly to rupiah securities instruments of Bank Indonesia (SRBI) and the stock market.
According to him, this condition reflects the perception of global investors towards Indonesia which remains positive, reflected by the Indonesian five-year Credit Default Swap (CDS) risk premium which is at a low level, around 72 basis points.
In terms of external resilience, he said that Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves position at the end of December 2025 was recorded at US$ 156.5 billion, equivalent to 6.4 months of import financing, and was considered adequate as a cushion in the face of global financial market pressures.
Looking ahead, Erwin said that BI emphasized that it would continue to be in the market to ensure the movement of the rupiah exchange rate in accordance with fundamental values and healthy market mechanisms.
"Bank Indonesia will continue to optimize pro-market monetary policy instruments to strengthen the effectiveness of monetary policy transmission and maintain adequate liquidity, so that it can support sustainable economic growth while still achieving inflation targets and maintaining the stability of the rupiah exchange rate," he explained.
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