JAKARTA - The rupiah exchange rate is getting weaker. On Tuesday 11 October, the figure headed to the level of Rp. 15,331 per US dollar.
Seeing this condition, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan is optimistic that the weakening of rupiah will not interfere with domestic food prices. Especially, in imported commodities such as wheat and soybeans.
Furthermore, Zulhas as Zulkifli Hasan is familiarly called, explaining that the two commodities had passed their highest price a few months ago.
"Indeed, we have passed the rising price, for example, wheat, soybeans, that's an order in July, August that's why the price has gone up," he told reporters at the Ministry of Trade, Tuesday, October 11.
Zulhas said the commodity price would be stable. This is because the government made its bookings at a time when world prices were falling.
"But what is ordered now is that the price has dropped, it has been harvested. I think the price will be stable, but if the soybeans have a high price, we will subsidize IDR 1,000 per kilogram," he explained.
For your information, these two commodities have a fairly large portion in Indonesia's imports. Therefore, the weakening of rupiah can have an impact on the prices of imported commodities, so that there can be an increase in domestic prices.
Exports Continue to Rise
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Trade Jerry Sambuaga said he was optimistic about the current performance of the trade balance. Thus, he feels confident that the impact of the weakening of rupiah will not be too disturbing. Moreover, trading performance experienced a surplus.
"Our surplus is in a condition that is quite significant, at 34.89 billion US dollars, it's extraordinary, it's one of the highest and I'm sure this will go through a record last year," said Jerry.
Furthermore, Jerry said there was still about four months left until the end of the year. Assuming a surplus trade balance of 2-3 billion dollars per month, the record target could be achieved at the end of this year.
"Well, I know that global conditions start from food supply, energy, Ukraine's conflict with Russia, and others, there may be a lot of dynamics and impacts. But we are optimistic that once again that trade performance will continue to rise," he said.
Jerry said Indonesia's export rate would continue to increase. Therefore, Jerry is optimistic that domestic trade conditions will be fine.
Even so, Jerry did not specify what commodities are the mainstay at this time. Based on records, energy commodities such as coal and palm oil (CPO) have always been the mainstay of Indonesia's exports.
"We are optimistic, in the midst of many uncertain global situations, but we must be optimistic because we must show that trade performance is improving," he said.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
