Concerns over reform drag down rupiah again<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The crippled rupiah fell for the second
\nconsecutive day yesterday on market apprehension over the
\ncountry's commitment to thoroughly implementing the revised
\nreforms, currency dealers said.<\/p>\n
The rupiah, which opened at 7,700\/7,800, closed 2.6 percent
\nlower than the previous day's close of 7,650 against the American
\ndollar, they said.<\/p>\n
\"The market has sensed a kind of signal from the government
\nthat it might backtrack on the reform program agreed with the
\nInternational Monetary Fund,\" a currency dealer with a local
\nprivate bank said.<\/p>\n
Mounting concerns arose Tuesday following a controversial
\nremark by Minister of Industry and Trade Mohamad \"Bob\" Hasan that
\nIndonesia would not honor its IMF commitment to revoke a crude
\npalm oil export ban by April 22, the dealer said.<\/p>\n
\"Any controversial comments like that only send a very bad
\nmessage to foreign investors, prompting them to keep dumping the
\nrupiah.\"<\/p>\n
The chief IMF representative in Jakarta, Kadhim Al-Eyd, said
\nyesterday that he had been assured by Bob Hasan that the ban
\nwould be scrapped according to the deadline.<\/p>\n
Currency dealers said that students staging demonstration on
\ntheir campuses across the country, demanding economic and
\npolitical reform, had also prompted most foreign operators to
\nremain on the sidelines of the market.<\/p>\n
\"Overseas investors perceive the country's political risk as
\nbeing still high,\" another local bank dealer said.<\/p>\n
Dealers said uncertainty over the resolution of the country's
\nforeign debts in New York had also put more pressure on the
\nrupiah.<\/p>\n
They said market concern about the failure of an expected rise
\nin interest rates to materialize also contributed to the rupiah's
\nslide yesterday.<\/p>\n
As the rupiah fell, stock prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange
\n(JSX) also declined as most investors stayed on the sidelines to
\nwatch closely the implementation of the reform program.<\/p>\n
Stock analysts said a weakening regional market was also
\nresponsible for a downturn on the JSX.<\/p>\n
The JSX Composite Index closed 2.65 points lower to 513.44
\npoints on total volume of 431.18 million shares changing hands on
\nthe regular market valued at Rp 666.94 billion (US$85.50
\nmillion). (aly)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/concerns-over-reform-drag-down-rupiah-again-1447893297",
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