Breaking! IHSG Opens Down 1.35% Ahead of Bank Indonesia Rate Decision

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — The Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG) opened again weaker at the start of trading today, Wednesday 20 May 2026. The index fell 0.29% or 18.47 points to 6,352.20. A total of 156 stocks declined, 146 rose, and 314 traded flat. Transaction value reached Rp 158 billion with a trading volume of 235 million shares in 31,500 transactions. Market capitalisation shrank to Rp 11,079 trillion. Moments after opening the IHSG plunged deeper into the red and weakened to 1.35%. This morning, the most actively traded stocks were BBCA, ASPR, BBRI, BUMI, and TPIA. Several sentiment indicators will weigh on market performance today, with the most important coming from the central bank. Bank Indonesia (BI) will announce the outcome of the Board of Governors Meeting (RDG) this afternoon (20 May 2026). The decision is one of the most important agendas awaited by market participants, particularly amid heavy pressure on the rupiah and domestic financial markets. Based on a CNBC Indonesia poll, of 15 institutions participating, nine expect BI to raise the BI Rate by 25 basis points to 5.00%. Meanwhile six institutions project BI will keep the benchmark rate at 4.75%. The majority of market players now see a rate hike as the main scenario for this RDG. The pressure on the rupiah, coupled with rising external risks, makes BI’s room to hold rates increasingly narrow. In the last RDG in April 2026, BI again kept the BI Rate at 4.75%. The Deposit Facility rate remained at 3.75%, while the Lending Facility was kept at 5.50%. The decision marks BI’s seventh consecutive hold of its policy rate. If this RDG result aligns with the consensus, it would be the first rate increase in two years. The last time BI raised rates was in April 2024, when the central bank lifted the BI Rate by 25 basis points from 6.00% to 6.25%. The pressure on the rupiah is one of the main reasons markets are pricing in a potential rate rise. The Rupiah has continued to hit new lows against the US dollar, while external tensions from the US-Iran conflict still create high global uncertainty and keep world energy prices elevated. This situation increases the risk of imported inflation, especially if oil prices stay high and the rupiah remains weak. On the other hand, pressure on domestic financial markets is also evident from IHSG movements and SBN yields.