Confidence in Indonesian Ecnomy strengthens Rupiah, BI Says

Jakarta, MINA — Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo said the rising confidence in the national economy helped the rupiah strengthen against the dollar, Antara News reported.

“Thank God the rupiah`s exchange rate remains stable and strong. It traded at Rp14,300 and even at Rp14,270 per dollar,” he said here on Friday.

The rupiah`s strengthening was the result of various factors including confidence in the Indonesian economy and the policies the country continued to pursue, he said.

The appreciation of the rupiah was also attributable to the inflow of foreign capital in domestic portfolios in the form of state securities (SBN) and shares, he said.

Bank Indonesia recorded the total foreign capital invested in state securities in November 2018 at Rp34.25 trillion, bringing the total foreign capital invested in state securities since January 2018 to Rp62.4 trillion.

The inflow of foreign capital in the stock market in November 2018 reached Rp12.2 trillion. In total, the amount of foreign capital invested in shares reached Rp46.4 trillion since early this year.

“The inflow of foreign capital has added to the supply (of dollars) and strengthened the rupiah`s exchange rate. The confidence is not only in policies but also in policies over our economy, which continue to improve with good stability,” he said.

The other factor supporting the rupiah`s exchange rate was the market mechanism, which began to work, he said.

Through various breakthroughs the central bank has taken, the money market developed very well with regard to spot transactions, swap transactions and domestic Non Delivery Forward (NDF).

“Corporations are active, and so are supply and demand, and the banking industry. Many foreign investors have used domestic NDP. There seems to be spread spot exchange rate JISDOR and the NDF,” he added. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)