Rupiah Continues to Weaken Against the US Dollar, BI Reveals the Reasons

The exchange rate of the rupiah is increasingly weakening against the US dollar. This depreciation has allowed Uncle Sam’s currency to breach the Rp 17,300 per dollar level. Bank Indonesia (BI) has revealed the reasons behind the rupiah’s growing pressure.

Senior Deputy Governor of BI, Destry Damayanti, stated that the pressure on the rupiah is influenced by escalating global uncertainties. According to her, these global uncertainties are also weighing on regional currencies.

“The rupiah’s movement remains in line with the region, with a year-to-date weakening of 3.54%,” said Destry in a written statement on Thursday (23/4/2026), as reported by detikFinance.

BI admits it will continue to increase the intensity of interventions to maintain the stability of the rupiah’s exchange rate and strengthen the interest rate structure of market-oriented monetary instruments. These efforts are aimed at preserving the attractiveness of domestic assets amid the ongoing impact of the Middle East conflict.

“Stabilisation measures are being carried out consistently through interventions in the offshore market (NDF), domestic market (spot and DNDF), and purchases of government bonds in the secondary market,” explained Destry.

Foreign exchange reserves are assessed to remain strong at US$148.2 billion at the end of March 2026. BI assures it will continue to take the necessary steps to maintain the stability of the rupiah’s exchange rate.

“BI is always present in the market and will continue to take the necessary steps in a consistent and measured manner to maintain the stability of the rupiah’s exchange rate,” added Destry.

Based on Bloomberg data, the US dollar strengthened to Rp 17,310 around 09:35 WIB. After briefly moving to the Rp 17,200 level, the US dollar strengthened again by 0.70% to Rp 17,302 at 10:15 WIB.