Rupiah Opens in Red at Monday`s Start
25 May 2015 12:36 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The rupiah's interbank exchange rate in Jakarta slipped by five points to commence trading at Rp13,136 per US dollar on Monday morning.
"The rupiah is experiencing some pressure as the majority of Asian currencies are appreciating against the US dollar. Furthermore, the currency is not being helped by the lack of internal factors to support its' uptrend," said an economist for Samuel Sekuritas, Rangga Cipta.
Bank Indonesia's (BI) prediction that inflation will remain high in May is driving the rupiah into the red, continued Rangga.
Also, explained Rangga, market players are still looking out for the fallout effect of the chairman of Federal Reserve Bank of America (The Fed), Janet Yellen's speech that indicates that the Fed Fund rate will be increased sometimes later in the year.
"Yellen said that the Fed will raise its fund rate in 2015, given that the US economy continues to recover," said Rangga.
An analyst for Bank Himpunan Saudara, Rully Nova, said that the rupiah would tend to depreciate as long as the Fed left the matter of a Fund rate hike open to speculation, as uncertainties tended to drive investors to seek out safe haven currencies and assets, which included the US dollar.
Rully hopes that the government's plan to issue Islamic Bonds worth US$2 billion could help improve Indonesia's fiscal conditions, which could help the domestic economy balance out negative external sentiments.
ANTARA