Euro money hard to find in local market
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After a second day as Europe's legal tender, euro banknotes and coins had yet to gain a foothold in the local market, with only a few banks and money changers stocking the new currency.
Local banks, Bank Danamon, Bank Niaga, Bank Mandiri and Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), said the euro was not available at the banks and could not say when it would be.
"We don't know from whom we're going to get the euro," BNI spokesman Ryan Kiryanto told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
He said that BNI might make its first contact with the new currency from travelers carrying euro currencies or from banks in Europe.
A Bank Danamon official who refused to be named said the bank had thus far been using the euro only in rates when transferring money with European banks.
"We don't provide the currency physically," the official said.
The euro made its debut in the international money market in 1999 as a "virtual currency." Its banknotes and coins were introduced on New Year's Day, marking a landmark move to unite Europe under one currency.
Thus far it is unclear when the new currency will become widespread throughout the rest of the world.
Money changers in Jakarta said they too were not euro ready.
Most said that to obtain the currency, they relied on travelers returning from Europe with the euro banknotes.
Among them is PT Sinar Irawan, which said it had purchased euro banknotes from an arriving tourist at a rate of Rp 9,200.
Saying that Bank Indonesia might ban the old European banknotes, some money changers said they would reject accepting them after January.
But when asked when they expected to start selling the euro, all said they were still in the dark over its arrival.
Exchanging European banknotes to rupiah and only then converting them into the euro would cost customers twice the transaction fees money changers charged.
Elsewhere, foreign banks looked more prepared. HSBC and Netherlands' ABN-AMRO said euro banknotes had been available at their banks from New Year's Day.
"We have been preparing for the euro since last August," said HSBC spokesman Agung Laksamana. He could not say how much in euro banknotes the bank was holding.
Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Miranda Goeltom said the central bank would provide the euro for the local market, but when was yet not known.
"Demand for the currency in Europe alone exceeds the euro's capacity," she said in an interview with Metro TV.
Miranda said that although Bank Indonesia planned to sell the euro currency, banks or money changers were free to seek their own supply.
According to her, some 90 percent of the country's foreign currency demand was in U.S. dollars.
Bank Indonesia, she said, would monitor demand for the euro in the money market before deciding how much it would purchase.
To set the rate for the euro, she said the rupiah must first be rated against the U.S. dollar, which in turn was rated against the euro.
At present rates, the euro is worth 0.89 against the U.S dollar which is worth 10,450 against the rupiah. The euro, therefore, is worth 9,300 to the rupiah.