Purbaya: Prices Remain Under Control Despite Dollar Staying at Rp17,600

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has assured that the pressure of the rupiah’s exchange rate against the United States dollar, which continues to hover around Rp17,600 per US$, will not affect domestic prices. He attributed this to Indonesia’s generally low inflation, even as the economy grew rapidly in the first quarter of 2026. When the economy expanded by 5.61% year-on-year in Q1 2026, inflation through April 2026 remained within the government’s target range, at about 2.42% year-on-year. ‘So going forward, inflation will remain safeguarded,’ Purbaya said at a press conference on the APBN Performance and Facts at his Jakarta office on Tuesday, 19 May 2026. He noted that this performance would be supported by government policies that remain consistent in maintaining subsidised fuel prices until the end of the year, despite the pressures from currency movements and volatility in world oil prices. According to Purbaya, the government has sufficient budget capacity to cushion these pressures because the assumptions for the exchange rate and world oil prices have been adjusted to the latest developments. For information, the rupiah closed weaker against the US dollar on Tuesday (19 May 2026). Refinitiv data show the rupiah ended down 0.31% at Rp17,695/USD. While slightly distant from the Rp17,700/USD area, this level remains an all-time closing low for the rupiah. The rupiah’s weakness had been evident since the opening this morning, opening down 0.06% at Rp17,650/USD, before the pressure deepened intraday and the rupiah briefly breached the psychological level of Rp17,730/USD. Separately, the US dollar index (DXY), which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was seen as steady; as of 15:00 WIB, DXY stood at 99.172.