Fierce! The Rupiah Has Reached Rp.13,000 Per US Dollar Again

Illustrated. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The rupiah exchange rate (exchange rate), which was transacted between banks in Jakarta in early 2021, closed higher, breaking the psychological level of Rp14,000 per US dollar, at the end of trading on Monday, January 4.

The rupiah closed 155 points higher or 1.1 percent to Rp13,895 per US dollar from the previous day's closing position of Rp14,050 per US dollar.

"The strengthening of the rupiah is supported by expectations that US interest rates will remain low and hopes for the global economic recovery from COVID-19," said Director of PT TRFX Garuda Berjangka Ibrahim Assuaibi quoted from Antara, Monday, January 4.

US central bank The Federal Reserve, is scheduled to release minutes of its December meeting on Wednesday January 6. Investors will be looking for more details on discussions that make their future policy guidance more explicit and opportunities for further increases in asset purchases by 2021.

In addition, all eyes are on the January 5 second round elections in the state of Georgia to fill the two seats in the US senate to decide which party will control the assembly.

With Senate Republicans having blocked a push to increase the number of Covid-19 stimulus checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000 over the past week, the outcome will determine whether President-elect Joe Biden can push his legislative agenda, which includes more stimulus through Congress.

Meanwhile, Japanese media reported that a state of emergency was being considered for Tokyo and could be declared within a week. With the city facing record infection rates, investors will be watching Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's press conference to mark the start of 2021.

In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also hinted at the possibility of tighter lockdown restrictions on his country. However, in the field of vaccines, the UK will be the first country to launch AZD1222, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC and the University of Oxford.

The vaccine, which was approved by the local health and medicinal products regulatory agency on December 30, 2020, is said to be easier to carry and lower cost.

Domestically, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) experienced an increase in price or inflation of 1.68 percent over the past year. On a monthly basis, the inflation rate is 0.45 percent in December 2020.

This inflation is greater than 0.28 percent in November 2020 and 0.34 percent in December 2019. This means positive because public consumption has resumed its growth.

Regarding vaccines, the government has distributed the COVID-19 vaccine to 34 provinces, although in the first batch it was still focused on certain agencies. Meanwhile, vaccinations will be carried out from January 2021 to April 2021. The vaccines will be injected to 1.3 million health workers and 17.4 million public workers.

"The government's good intentions are sufficient to bring market players back into the domestic financial market because the evidence has been shown and the government is so fast and responsive about handling this COVID-19," said Ibrahim.