Rupiah Exchange Rate on 17 March 2026 Stagnant Following BI Monetary Council Meeting
The Indonesian rupiah closed stagnant against the US dollar during Tuesday trading on 17 March 2026. Although the rupiah strengthened in early morning trading, it failed to maintain momentum following the Bank Indonesia Monetary Council’s (RDG) statement, which the market assessed as still leaning dovish.
Based on the results of Bank Indonesia’s March 2026 Monetary Council meeting, which took place over two days, the central bank decided to maintain the benchmark interest rate (BI-Rate) at 4.75%. This decision was taken as a preventive measure to strengthen rupiah stability from the adverse impact of deteriorating global geopolitical conditions, particularly the conflict in the Middle East.
In addition to maintaining the BI-Rate, Bank Indonesia also upheld other policy measures. The policy framework aims to maintain the national inflation target for 2026-2027 within the target range of 2.5% ± 1%.
Currency analyst Lukman Leong from Doo Financial Futures assessed that the rupiah lost momentum following BI Governor Perry Warjiyo’s statement, which was seen as insufficiently aggressive (dovish) in addressing global pressures.
“The rupiah failed to maintain its gains against the US dollar after BI Governor’s remarks in the monetary council still appeared dovish, stating that policy easing space remains open,” Lukman said in Jakarta on Tuesday (17/3).
During Tuesday morning trading, the rupiah had initially shown positive performance, strengthening 29 points to reach 16,968 per US dollar. This premature appreciation was driven by sentiment from declining global crude oil prices following expectations of normalisation of the Strait of Hormuz route after US President Donald Trump’s statement.
Although BI Governor Perry Warjiyo did not explicitly mention the possibility of interest rate cuts in the near term due to increased global risks, the market continues to scrutinise every monetary policy signal to anticipate currency volatility going forward. The rupiah closed weaker at 16,997 per US dollar on Monday (16/3/2026). This comes as the budgetary assumption for exchange rate in the state budget stands at around 16,500 per US dollar, whilst the rupiah currently hovers near 17,000 per US dollar.