Dasco Praises BI's Move to Reduce Reliance on US Dollar
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, has expressed high appreciation for Bank Indonesia’s (BI) strategic steps to strengthen the rupiah exchange rate. These concrete efforts are considered successful in creating a positive trend for national economic stability while simultaneously reducing dependency on the United States dollar.
This appreciation refers to the Bilateral Currency Swap Arrangement (BCSA) signed by the Governor of Bank Indonesia, Perry Warjio, and the Governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), Pan Gongsheng, in Shanghai, China, on 11 June 2026. This cooperation expands the implementation of Local Currency Transactions (LCT) to include the Hong Kong region.
“This agreement allows transactions between Indonesia, Mainland China, and Hong Kong to be conducted using the Renminbi without having to rely on the US dollar,” Dasco stated in a written statement in Jakarta on Sunday.
In addition to the expansion of LCT involving the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Eddie Yue, this cooperation also agreed on the implementation of cross-border QRIS between Indonesia and China. This step enables business actors in both countries to conduct payment transactions directly and efficiently.
Dasco revealed that this cross-border QRIS system has integrated 191 service providers in China and 24 service providers in Indonesia. This integration is expected to significantly ease economic activities on the ground.
Furthermore, Dasco highlighted the massive potential of using LCT, considering that Indonesia’s export-import transaction volume with China in 2025 reached US$154.5 billion. By shifting to the rupiah and Renminbi, the pressure on the demand for US dollars in bilateral trade can be drastically reduced.
“This is a very serious effort to reduce the need for the US dollar in trade transactions, including the use of cross-border QRIS between Indonesia and China. This is being done by BI to strengthen the rupiah exchange rate,” he concluded.
The rupiah exchange rate showed positive performance at the close of weekend trading, strengthening significantly by 129 points or 0.71 per cent to the level of Rp17,860 per US dollar. Bank Indonesia estimates that the rupiah will strengthen in 2027 within the range of Rp16,800-Rp17,500 per US dollar.
Bank Mandiri welcomed the decision of the Bank Indonesia Weekly Board of Governors Meeting on 9 June 2026, which raised the BI-Rate by 25 basis points to 5.50%. An economist from Bank Danamon noted that there is still room for interest rate increases if the rupiah breaches Rp18,200 per US dollar.
Dasco also expressed that the trend of rupiah strengthening is projected to continue in the near future. He urged the public to exchange US dollars for rupiah in line with the government’s strengthening strategy. Additionally, the Deputy Speaker encouraged strategic steps such as share buyback actions for banks belonging to the State-Owned Banks Association (Himbara).