Rupiah remains weak despite IMF's assurance<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Rupiah remained weak yesterday despite the
\nInternational Monetary Fund's (IMF) encouraging statement about
\nits forthcoming aid for Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The rupiah continued to tumble, hitting an intraday low of
\n14,500 in early trading but recovered slightly to 14,000 at the
\nend of trading yesterday.<\/p>\n
It had closed at 13,900 the previous day.<\/p>\n
\"Though the rupiah remains weak, it managed to recover
\nslightly due to profit-taking by some operators ahead of the
\nweekend,\" a dealer with a local private bank said.<\/p>\n
Currency dealers said that the weak sentiment in the regional
\ncurrency market and escalating protests on the country's
\npolitical and social fronts further dragged down the currency,<\/p>\n
The IMF's Asia Pacific director Hubert Neiss said yesterday
\nthat the agency would speed up the disbursement of its next loan
\ntranche to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
But his statement elicited no positive response in the market.<\/p>\n
Neiss said the rupiah's plunge against the U.S. dollar was
\nattributed to a combination of internal developments and external
\nfactors, including weakness across Asian markets this week.<\/p>\n
\"The rupiah has been weak for a while because of the economic
\nsituation in Indonesia, and that has not yet turned around,\" he
\ntold reporters after meeting President B.J. Habibie yesterday .<\/p>\n
\"And the rupiah has absorbed the effects of the regional
\ndisruption,' he said.<\/p>\n
\"The whole situation in the region has deteriorated in the
\nlast few days and the rupiah has weakened with it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
An economist with Danareksa Sekuritas, Raden Pardede, said
\nthat persistent unresolved political uncertainties at home
\nremained a major obstacle to the rupiah and stock market's
\nrecovery.<\/p>\n
Following the bearish rupiah, the main index on the Jakarta
\nStock Exchange (JSX) closed 0.8 percent lower yesterday, falling
\n3.17 points to 408.37 on a total turnover of 296.16 million
\nshares on the regular market worth Rp 328.15 billion (US$23.43
\nmillion).<\/p>\n
Brokers attributed the fall to profit taking by most investors
\non the gains they made on cross-listed stocks like PT Telkom,
\nIndosat and Tambang Timah.<\/p>\n
Stock prices for the above three stocks account for 30 percent
\nof the total market capitalization on the local exchange.<\/p>\n
Telkom's share price fell Rp 150 to Rp 3,550 on a total
\nturnover of 2.89 million shares, Indosat shed Rp 1,525 to Rp
\n15,175 on 1.23 million shares and tin miner Tambang Timah slid Rp
\n75 to Rp 6,900 on 360,000 shares traded.<\/p>\n
Brokers said most investors were concentrating on one-day
\ntrading activities.<\/p>\n
\"There is no medium or long-term investors in the local
\nmarket,\" a broker with Bali Securities said.<\/p>\n
The head of Sales of Bahana Securities Bruce Rolph said
\nyesterday that the country's crippled financial market and
\neconomy was further withered by a bleak economic outlook this
\nyear with soaring inflation and predicted growth of minus 10
\npercent.<\/p>\n
\"The overseas general view on Indonesia is bad causing more
\noffshore funds to get rid of the local market,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Though Rolph praised the government's painstaking measures to
\ncope with the country's economic and political crisis, more
\nmeasures had to be taken.<\/p>\n
\"President Habibie has done positive things but the country's
\nproblems are so big that much more has to be done,\" he said.
\n(aly\/prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rupiah-remains-weak-despite-imfs-assurance-1447893297",
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