Tuesday Morning Rupiah Strengthened To Rp14,215 Per US Dollar

Illustration. (Photo: Bank Indonesia)

JAKARTA - The rupiah exchange rate strengthened at the start of trading on Tuesday 3 March. The rupiah opened up 0.35 percent to a level of Rp14,215 per US dollar (US).

The rupiah strengthened in the last two trading days after Bank Indonesia (BI) announced several policies. For example, interventions in the domestic non-delivery forward market, spot market, and government securities market to minimize the risk of increasing rupiah volatility.

Meanwhile in global markets, there was panic in which the market prompted US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to issue a statement that the Fed would act accordingly to support the economy.

Investors also see the Fed's statement as a sign that the central bank will decide to cut interest rates at the March 17-18 meeting.

"The negative for the dollar is that the Fed has more leeway than many rival central banks. With policy, those measures could do material damage to the attractiveness of currencies," said Western Union Business Solutions market analyst Joe Manimbo.

The movements of Asian currencies this morning were mixed. Apart from the rupiah, strengthening also occurred in the Taiwan dollar, yen, won, peso and ringgit. Meanwhile the yuan, Singapore dollar, Hong Kong dollar and the baht weakened against the US dollar.