The rupiah under pressure<\/p>\n
The weakening of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar in the
\nlast few days has been discussed widely. This is because over the
\npast weeks the currency had shown itself to be quite capable of
\nholding its ground against the greenback. People had begun to
\nbelieve the rupiah would stabilize below the Rp 8,500 per dollar
\nlevel.<\/p>\n
Maintaining a stable currency is no easy task. This holds
\nespecially true for a currency like the rupiah, which has no real
\nsupport aside from the government's signaled commitment to fix
\nthe economy.<\/p>\n
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad's manner of
\npreventing speculation has seen no success so far. In its efforts
\nto defeat the crisis, Kuala Lumpur smartly rejected aid offers
\nfrom the IMF and the World Bank. Malaysia imposed controls on its
\ncurrency instead and the Malaysian ringgit escaped speculator
\naction.<\/p>\n
Indonesia cannot follow that example as the country is already
\ncommitted to both the IMF and the World Bank. Furthermore, many
\nparties in this country either have an interest in supporting a
\nfree market policy, or the concept appeals to them on academic
\ngrounds.<\/p>\n
Bank Indonesia had planned to monitor foreign exchange
\nmovement last month, but the plan had to be suspended as the
\ndraft law regulating the procedure has not yet been submitted to
\nlegislators. Such a monitoring system would at the very least
\nprovide better information to the monetary authorities.<\/p>\n
-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-rupiah-under-pressure-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }