Rupiah weakens to 13,567 per dollar

JAKARTA. The rupiah exchange rate traded by banks in Jakarta on Tuesday morning had weakened by 39 points to Rp 13,567 per US dollar, from Rp 13,528.

“The strengthening of the dollar continued following the healthy improvement of the US job market, supporting predictions of a fund rate hike by the US Federal Reserve,” Platon Niaga Berjangka analyst Lukman Leong said as quoted by Antara in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He said domestic sentiment, again, was not helping the rupiah move in a positive direction. Hopes of domestic infrastructure development have not yet been accompanied with a significant increase in the performance of Indonesia’s imports.

“Imports is one indicator of the market’s performance, considering that most raw materials for infrastructure works are imported. If goods imports decline, it would indicate that infrastructure development has not yet run as expected,” said Lukman.

Nevertheless, the analyst said, the strengthening of the dollar against the rupiah had tended to be held back by inflation in the US, which was considered low, and interventions being conducted by Bank Indonesia (BI).

“BI has striven to be more actively involved in the market to maintain the rupiah exchange rate at a stable level,” said Lukman.

Meanwhile, Bank Himpunan Saudara finance market analyst Rully Nova said Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserve, which had dropped to US$107.55 billion as of July, had made market players worried, because in such a condition, BI’s ability to intervene was limited.

The analyst hoped the US Federal Reserve’s fund rate hike would be immediately announced to reduce speculation in both the global and domestic currency markets.