Airlangga: High dollar demand presses rupiah to around Rp17,700 per US dollar

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said that high demand for the United States dollar (USD) is one of the main factors weighing on the rupiah, pushing it to around Rp17,700 per USD. ‘Global factors are also highly influential, and as I mentioned during the Hajj month the demand for the dollar is also high,’ Airlangga said at his office in Jakarta on Tuesday. He said USD needs have risen in this period in line with corporate dividend payments after the annual financial reporting season. This is exacerbated by the rise in global oil prices as a result of the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran. Therefore, he sees the combination of high USD demand and rising global oil prices as a strong external pressure on the rupiah’s movement. The Coordinating Minister hopes the rupiah exchange rate against the USD can strengthen again in the second half of the year. ‘Hopefully the second half can be better,’ he added. As for the rupiah’s exchange rate at the close of trading on Tuesday, it weakened by 38 points or 0.22 percent to Rp17,706 per USD, from Rp17,668 per USD previously. ‘Rupiah today weakened due to domestic factors while awaiting the results of the BI Board of Governors Meeting (RDG BI) to be announced tomorrow, and with fiscal space that remains limited due to subsidies swelling as world oil prices remain above $100,’ said Rully.