BI Tightens Dollar Purchases, Transactions Drop to Rp1.02 Trillion per Day

Bank Indonesia (BI) has issued a new policy to support rupiah exchange rate stability by lowering the limit on US dollar purchases, effective from April 2026. Cash foreign exchange transactions, particularly US dollars, are now capped at US$50,000 per person per month, down from the previous US$100,000 per person per month. The new policy has already shown short-term results. “Since 17 April 2026, there has been a decline in the average daily spot customer transactions from US$78 million to US$60 million,” said BI Deputy Governor Thomas Djiwandono during the announcement of the Bank Indonesia Board of Governors Meeting, quoted on Thursday (23/4/2026). Thomas also stated that during the one-month transition period for the policy, reporting and transaction submissions at banks have faced no obstacles so far. “Regarding the readiness of the banks, as there is a one-month transition for reporting and document submission, up to now the banks are prepared and there are no issues there,” he said. In addition to the new foreign exchange conversion threshold rules, BI has also increased the Domestic Non-Deliverable Forward (DNDF) and swap sales threshold from US$5 million per transaction to US$10 million per transaction. According to Thomas, this policy includes several requirements that primary dealers must meet for DNDF and swap conversions. First, primary dealers must apply to BI for an exemption from the NDF ban. Second, dealers must commit to not conducting NDF sales of foreign exchange against the rupiah with overseas affiliated banks, only using DNDF transactions when covering NDF sales of foreign exchange against the rupiah, having a credit support annex agreement or support agreement with at least six domestic banks, and submitting reports to BI. “Fulfilment of these commitments for 3 months, and after 3 months it will be reviewed by BI,” he said. BI Governor Perry Warjiyo is confident that this policy can suppress spot foreign exchange transactions, thereby supporting rupiah exchange rate stability. “We are confident that going forward it will be even more effective so that spot purchase transactions must have an underlying. I can add that the underlying, which was previously 89.2%, is now 93.5% of spot transactions with underlying,” he said during the BI RDG announcement. This policy was formulated by considering exchange rate movements and foreign exchange transaction patterns in the domestic market, to maintain rupiah exchange rate stability and ensure that the dynamics of the domestic foreign exchange market continue to operate in a healthy and efficient manner. Historically, BI has made several adjustments to foreign exchange transaction thresholds in line with developments in global and domestic economic conditions. Changes in thresholds over time are part of adaptive policies to respond to economic and financial market dynamics, both globally and domestically.