Business History: Behind the Rupiah's depreciation 26 years ago to above Rp8,000 per US dollar

Bisnis.com, Jakarta — The government and Bank Indonesia (BI) appeared to be running out of ideas in facing the rupiah’s depreciation, even going as far as issuing instructions for BI to assist in strengthening the rupiah. On the other hand, the direction of government policy was increasingly being shaped by the market.

This was the situation captured in Harian Bisnis Indonesia edition on Monday, 22 May 2000. At that time, President Abdurrahman Wahid issued a presidential instruction for BI and state-owned banks to sell US dollars. However, the government’s ‘SOS’ signal did not prevent the rupiah from remaining above Rp8,000 per US dollar.