Rupiah Dips to Rp12,973 against Greenback at Monday's Close
27 April 2015 18:44 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The rupiah interbank exchange rate in Jakarta on Monday evening dipped by 78 points to trade at Rp12,973 against the greenback, down from its previous position at Rp12,895 per U.S. dollar.
"Indonesia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to slow in the first quarter (Q1) of 2015, which puts some degree of pressure on the rupiah," said an analyst for Platon Niaga Berjangka, Lukman Leong, in Jakarta on Monday.
Lukman added that aside from macroeconomic factors, micro-economic factors were also being watched by market players—especially considering the fact that the financial performance of publicly-traded companies in the domestic market was experiencing some degree of downtrend in Q1 of 2015.
"Such conditions have driven investors to choose to unload their holdings in the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX), which consequently affects the demand for the rupiah," said Lukman.
Thus, said Lukman, the situation could be mended by an active intervention by Bank Indonesia (BI)—and the lack of which could possibly cause the rupiah to depreciate even further.
"BI should strive to ensure that the rupiah remains within acceptable bounds to avoid stirring worries among market players—especially in the domestic market," said Lukman.
On the other hand, said Lukman, the downtrend reflected in the U.S. economic figures had once again given rise to speculations that the Federal Reserve Bank of America (The Fed) would not raise its fund rate any time soon—as such, the rupiah could possibly rebound in the time to come.
Meanwhile, BI's middle rate on Monday, April 27, 2015 went up to Rp12,922 per U.S. dollar—higher than its previous position on Friday, which stood at Rp12,941 per U.S. dollar.
ANTARA