BI Tightens Dollar Purchases, Transactions Drop to US$9 Million

Bank Indonesia (BI) has introduced a new policy to support rupiah exchange rate stability by lowering the limit on purchasing US dollars without underlying documentation. The threshold for cash foreign exchange transactions, particularly US dollars, was initially reduced from US$100,000 to US$50,000 per person per month, and subsequently tightened further to US$25,000 per person per month.

Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia Thomas Djiwandono revealed that the imposition of these thresholds successfully reduced the average daily spot transactions. “The first stage of lowering the threshold to US$50,000 managed to bring down the daily average to US$16 million. The second stage reduced the daily average to US$9 million,” Thomas stated during an online press conference for the BI Board of Governors meeting on Thursday (18/6/2026).

BI has now set a new, stricter limit of US$10,000 per person per month. Governor of Bank Indonesia Perry Warjiyo confirmed that this policy will take effect on 1 July 2026, alongside the strengthening of prudential principles in foreign exchange traffic reporting. The reporting threshold for supporting documents on overseas fund transfers will also be adjusted from the equivalent of US$50,000 to US$25,000.

Deputy Governor Thomas projected that the new US$10,000 limit would significantly boost transactions backed by underlying documentation. “We project that the new stage, with the reduction to US$10,000 effective 1 July, will increase underlying transactions to 98.1 percent of total foreign exchange transactions,” he added.