Rupiah Falls, 16 Currencies Now Trading Above Rp10,000
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The United States dollar has long been the primary benchmark for assessing the rupiah’s exchange rate movements. This is understandable, as the US dollar is the world’s dominant currency, widely used in international trade and serving as a key reference in global financial markets.
However, when viewed against the rupiah, the US dollar is not the most expensive currency.
According to Refinitiv data from trading on Tuesday (28/4/2026) at 13:45 WIB, several currencies from other countries have values exceeding Rp10,000 per unit.
In fact, some currencies surpass Rp45,000. The top position is held by the Bahraini dinar (BHD) at Rp45,680/BHD against the rupiah. This means Indonesians need to exchange nearly Rp50,000 to obtain 1 Bahraini dinar.
In the next position is the Omani rial at Rp44,775/OMR, followed by the Jordanian dinar at Rp24,281/JOD. The values of these three are far above the US dollar, which was recorded at Rp17,240/USD at the same time.
It is evident that most high-value currencies come from countries with relatively small economies but with economic structures and monetary policies that maintain their currency values.
For example, Bahrain and Oman are Gulf states whose economies are largely supported by the energy sector. Meanwhile, the Swiss franc is known as a safe-haven currency because Switzerland has a reputation for political stability, a strong financial system, and high investor confidence.
There is also the Cayman Islands dollar, which has a high value because the territory is known as one of the world’s international financial centres with significant financial services activity.
Meanwhile, the euro and the British pound sterling remain expensive against the rupiah.
What Does This Mean for the Rupiah?
This list shows that the rupiah has a smaller nominal value compared to many world currencies. However, this does not automatically mean the Indonesian economy is weak.
The nominal value of a currency is heavily influenced by historical redenomination, monetary policy, past inflation, economic structure, and each country’s exchange rate system.
As a simple illustration, Japan has the yen with a low nominal value against the US dollar, yet Japan remains one of the world’s largest economies. Conversely, there are countries with high nominal currency values but economies not as large as those of the United States, China, or Japan.
However, for Indonesians, this still provides a simple picture of costs when travelling abroad.
Currencies with much higher values against the rupiah can make trips to those countries feel more expensive, particularly for needs such as transportation, food, hotels, and daily shopping.