Bank Indonesia's Complete Policy Decision for March 2026: US Dollar Purchases Further Tightened

Jakarta — Bank Indonesia’s Monetary Policy Committee decided to maintain the BI Rate at 4.75%, with deposit facility rate at 3.75% and lending facility rate at 5.5% in its March 2026 meeting.

“The Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 16 and 17 March decided to maintain the BI Rate at 4.75%,” stated Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo during an online press conference on Tuesday, 17 February 2026.

Warjiyo indicated that the decision was intended to strengthen Rupiah exchange rate stability amid deteriorating global conditions resulting from Middle East conflicts, whilst maintaining the 2026-2027 inflation target of 2.5±1%. Bank Indonesia will continue optimising various monetary policy instruments to strengthen external resilience against potential escalation of Middle East tensions, including implementing necessary adjustments to maintain consistency in safeguarding national economic stability.

Macroprudential policy will be further strengthened to encourage economic growth through increased credit/financing to the real sector whilst maintaining financial system stability. Payment system policy will continue supporting economic activity through enhanced synergies in expanding digital payment acceptance, strengthening the payment system industry structure, and improving payment infrastructure reliability and resilience.

The mix of monetary, macroprudential, and payment system policies will be supported by the following policy measures:

Strengthening Rupiah exchange rate stabilisation through interventions in both Non-Deliverable Forward transactions in overseas markets and spot transactions and Domestic Non-Deliverable Forward transactions in domestic markets.

Enhancing pro-market monetary operation strategies to attract foreign portfolio investment inflows and ensure adequate liquidity in money and banking markets through management of interest rate structures and monetary instrument volumes, as well as secondary market government securities transactions.

Strengthening foreign exchange market transaction policies effective from April 2026 to support Rupiah stability through: adjusting the cash foreign currency purchase threshold against Rupiah from USD100,000 per actor per month to USD50,000 per actor per month; raising DNDF/Forward sale thresholds from USD5 million to USD10 million per transaction; and increasing buy and sell swap thresholds from USD5 million to USD10 million per transaction.

Reinforcing Foreign Exchange Traffic reporting requirements through adjusting the supporting document threshold obligation for outgoing fund transfers in foreign currency from USD100,000 to USD50,000, effective April 2026.

Increasing macroprudential policy relaxation effectiveness through publishing Base Lending Rate transparency assessments with enhanced focus on sectoral lending rates covered under the Banking Loan Map, in synergy with the Government and other stakeholders to encourage high-volume credit/financing through the Indonesian Intermediation Acceleration Programme.

Launching the Indonesia-South Korea cross-border QRIS in April 2026 as part of efforts to expand digital payment connectivity across borders and accelerate digital acceptance.

Launching the Indonesia Digital Innovation Centre in April 2026 to accelerate Digital Economy and Finance transformation, including through hackathons and digital talent development programmes, conducted in synergy with authorities, associations, and relevant ministries/institutions.

Implementing capacity building and literacy programmes for acceleration and expansion of regional digitalisation quarterly as a synergy forum and knowledge hub across regions to accelerate and expand digitalisation of local government transactions, including public service quality.

Continuing national payment system preparedness during major national religious observances, particularly Eid al-Fitr 1447 H, by ensuring availability, reliability and security of Bank Indonesia’s payment system and industry payment systems, and guaranteeing adequate, quality Rupiah availability across Indonesian territory, including through the Ramadan Rupiah Vibrancy and Eid Blessing programme 2026.

Bank Indonesia will continue strengthening policy coordination with the Government, including close synergies between monetary and fiscal policies to mitigate impacts of global uncertainty from Middle East conflicts on the domestic economy, ensuring economic stability and growth remain protected. Policy synergies with the Financial System Stability Committee will be intensified particularly to encourage financing for government priority programmes. Additionally, Bank Indonesia will strengthen and expand international cooperation in central banking areas, including payment system connectivity and transactions using local currencies, as well as facilitate investment and trade promotion initiatives in priority sectors in cooperation with relevant agencies.