Analysts still upbeat on rupiah<\/p>\n
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Profit taking stalled the rupiah's movement a bit last week,
\nbut analysts remained convinced the local unit would bounce back
\nthis week amid lingering positive sentiments in the market.<\/p>\n
After soaring to 9,540 against the U.S. dollar, the rupiah
\nlost steam to end the four-day week at 9,825 last Thursday. The
\nunit stood lower at 9,830 in the previous week.<\/p>\n
Profit taking broke loose on news that U.S. investment firm
\nFarallon Capital Management had already paid the government for a
\n30 percent stake in Bank Central Asia (BCA) days before the March
\n28, deadline.<\/p>\n
Farallon transferred the payment, worth some US$320 million,
\ninto an escrow account at Bank Indonesia by Thursday's deadline.<\/p>\n
Citing last week's dip in the rupiah as normal, especially
\nahead of the long weekend, currency analysts believe good news
\nwould outweigh the negative, thus pushing the rupiah back on its
\nupward path.<\/p>\n
Analyst at PT DBS Vickers Wiwan Wiradjaja said the local unit
\nhad a good chance of gaining further ground against its U.S.
\ncounterpart, although corporate dollar demand would likely limit
\nthe progress.<\/p>\n
\"The rupiah is likely to spread at a rather wide range,\" he
\nsaid, estimating this to hover at 9,650 to 9,800 to the dollar.<\/p>\n
He said companies with foreign debts might purchase the dollar
\nin the first half of the week, sending the rupiah down.<\/p>\n
A rebound, however, was likely in the remaining days, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
A currency dealer at a local brokerage also brushed off
\nconcerns that last week's slight fall would mark the end of the
\nrupiah's sparkling movement.<\/p>\n
The currency's fall reflected a healthy correction ahead of
\nthe long weekend as traders preferred to hold the more stable
\ndollar as a precautionary measure, he explained.<\/p>\n
The dealer and Wiwan agreed that the approaching Paris Club
\nmeeting, scheduled for the second week of April, provided
\noptimism on the rescheduling of foreign debt payment.<\/p>\n
Indonesia plans to ask the Paris Club of creditors to
\nreschedule some $5.5 billion in foreign debts, both principle and
\ninterest, that are due to mature between April 2002 and December
\n2003.<\/p>\n
Rescheduling the foreign debt payment means less pressure on
\nthe rupiah.<\/p>\n
Further news on government plans to divest more local banks
\nshould also provide a boost for the rupiah, Wiwan continued.<\/p>\n
The success of the BCA sale is believed to have put Indonesia
\nback on investors' radar, reviving confidence on future bank
\nsales.<\/p>\n
Next on this year's divestment list are Bank Niaga, Bank
\nDanamon, Bank Lippo, and Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII).<\/p>\n
On the stock market, the index ended a notch down last week,
\nwhich traders attributed to profit taking in the currency market.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) Composite Index closed last
\nweek at 481.78 points, down from 484.732 a week before.<\/p>\n
A dealer at a Jakarta-based security firm blamed disappointing
\nannual reports from a number of blue chip companies for the
\nindex's drop.<\/p>\n
They include reports from the country's largest cigarette
\nmaker PT Sampoerna which recorded a lower 2001 revenue versus
\n2000.<\/p>\n
For this week, dealers expect the market to trade flat to
\nhigher.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/analysts-still-upbeat-on-rupiah-1447893297",
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