JAKARTA (Yosefardi) – The rupiah strengthened to close at Rp11984 against the US Dollar Thursday after Bank Indonesia decided to keep its benchmark BI Rate at 7.5% for four consecutive months, according to Bloomberg chart.
But Bank Indonesia recorded mid rate of rupiah at Rp12073 Thursday (Feb 13).
The rupiah however has weakened 24.5% in past one year. It stood at Rp9600 in mid February 2013 and started falling substantially since mid August last year.
The rupiah then reached Rp11600 in early September 2013, then recovered to Rp10800 in October, a month later. Since then the rupiah dropped to 12200 by mid December last year.
BI Rate policy, maintained at 7.5%, helped the rupiah. Other factors are positive economic data of Indonesia such as trade deficit, foreign exchange reserves, and improved economic growth.
External issues, mainly Fed’s commitment on easing monetary policy and China’s trade surplus, also supported the rupiah’s sentiment.