Asian currencies mixed late, rupiah gyrates on news
Asian currencies mixed late, rupiah gyrates on news
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Asian currencies late Monday are mixed amid talk of a Cabinet reshuffle in Indonesia, and news that Jakarta is catching up on an economic reform program set out by the International Monetary Fund.
News that Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid expects three members of his cabinet to resign - at least temporarily - while they face corruption charges, and speculation that this could trigger a shakeup in the Cabinet pushed the Indonesian rupiah to an early intraday low of Rp 7,700 against the U.S. dollar.
However, the weakness was short-lived as the currency rebounded after the IMF said it would support Indonesia's request to restructure $2.1 billion in sovereign debt at a Paris Club meeting April 12.
John Dodsworth, IMF country representative to Indonesia, told Dow Jones Jakarta is catching up on the implementation of a slew of economic reforms, such as bank recapitalization and private debt restructuring.
Failure to meet a March 31 deadline for a number of these reforms prompted the IMF to delay the disbursement of $400 million in loans. This cast a pall over the Paris Club meeting as some donor countries were reluctant to allow Indonesia to reschedule its debt unless it remained on track with the IMF.
But IMF backing for Indonesia at that meeting, and news it will soon send a review team to the country suggest the IMF may soon resume lending, which would boost investor sentiment and the rupiah.
The dollar late in Asian trading was quoted against the rupiah at Rp 7,660, barely changed from Rp 7,663 late Friday.
The currency of neighboring Singapore weakened on expectations Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., or SingTel, will proceed with a plan to buy a stake in Time Engineering Bhd. of Malaysia for more than S$1 billion, or 2.2 billion ringgit.
Traders expect SingTel would need to sell Singapore dollars in the spot market to finance what would be a cash transaction.
Both parties have set a one-month deadline to finalize the proposed tie-up, which is subject to regulatory approvals, and is conditional upon a due-diligence review of Time Engineering's operations by SingTel.
The U.S. currency was quoted at S$1.7165, up from S$1.7125 late Friday.
Elsewhere, Thai Finance Minister Tarrin Nimmanahaeminda denied rumors he was set to dismiss Central Bank Governor Chatu Mongol Sonakul from office.
Despite the denial, tensions between the two remain high over a new law that would merge three central bank reserve accounts.
With elections due by November, Tarrin wants to transfer excess reserves to reduce debt and avoid unpopular tax hikes, while Chatu Mongol says the new law would weaken the Bank of Thailand's ability to manage monetary policy.
The U.S. dollar was at 38.000 baht from 37.985 baht a day earlier.
In Taiwan, renewed attacks by China on Taiwan's vice president-elect Annette Lu failed to dampen enthusiasm for Taiwan stocks - the benchmark index rose 1.9 percent - or curb a sharp rise in the New Taiwan dollar.
China described Monday Annette Lu as insane and accused her of risking the island's safety by favoring independence, while the official Xinhua News Agency referred to Lu on the weekend as the "scum of the Chinese nation."
The New Taiwan dollar rose to its highest level since October 23, 1997. At the close, the U.S. currency was quoted at NT$30.300, from NT$30.360 previously.
Meanwhile, the South Korean won ended lower on steady indirect government intervention through the state-run Korea Development Bank.
Authorities appeared determined to neutralize the potential won-bullish impact of Monday's surprise announcement that North and South Korea will meet June 12 to 14, said Oh Suk-tae, a currency strategist for Citibank in Seoul.
The dollar finished at 1,109.40 won, up from Friday's close of 1,107.10 won.
In Manila, it ended at 41.100 pesos, down slightly from 41.105 pesos previously.