Friday Rupiah Weakened 2.09 Percent To Rp14,318 Level

Illustration. (Photo: Bank Indonesia)

JAKARTA - The rupiah exchange rate became increasingly defenseless on trade, Friday, February 28. The rupiah weakened 2.09 percent to a level of Rp14,318 per US dollar.

Monex Investindo Futures Head Researcher Ariston Tjendra said there was still no positive sentiment that was able to lift the rupiah in the market.

"The pressure on risk assets due to the increasing spread of the corona virus outbreak outside China is still great," Ariston told VOI.

According to Bank Indonesia (BI), the rupiah depreciated 1.08 percent year to date (ytd) from early 2020 to Thursday, February 27 yesterday.

Despite the decline, BI Governor Perry Warjiyo said that this decline was still better than other countries.

"Like the Korean won which depreciated 5.07 percent, the Thai baht depreciated 6.42 percent, the Singapore dollar weakened 3.67 percent, and the Malaysian ringgit weakened 2.91 percent," Perry explained as quoted from kontan.co.id

By seeing this, Perry admitted that the Indonesian financial market was indeed inflamed. Moreover, the current corona virus outbreak continues to affect global conditions and causes investors to divest their portfolio investments.

However, Perry also assured that BI and the government would continue to intervene to stabilize the market, the rupiah exchange rate and the financial market, especially government bonds, by mitigating the effects of the corona virus.

"We will continue to coordinate closely to maintain economic stability and continue to promote economic growth," he explained.