Rupiah higher on suspected BI intervention
Rupiah higher on suspected BI intervention
Dow Jones, Jakarta/Singapore
The Indonesian rupiah ended higher against the dollar Friday
on suspected central bank intervention, dealers said.
The dollar closed at Rp 10,400, down from its close Thursday
at Rp 10,480.
Suspected intervention by Bank Indonesia - both directly and
indirectly through state banks - pushed the dollar to an intraday
low of Rp 10,325 midmorning. However, fresh dollar purchases late
afternoon by local companies helped the U.S. unit recover some
ground.
Dealers said the market has fully discounted news that
international lenders Thursday pledged up to US$3.1 billion of
loans to Indonesia to support its 2002 budget.
Still, the government will have to struggle to finance the
2001 state budget as it is almost certain that it will unable to
raise Rp 6.5 trillion this year from selling state-owned
companies.
Other Asian currencies were mixed late Friday, with
intervention by the central banks in South Korea and Taiwan
keeping a rein on the continued strengthening of their respective
currencies, dealers said.
The Japanese yen's overnight bounce gave an added fillip to
the South Korean won and the New Taiwan dollar, both of which
have propped up by foreign portfolio inflows in recent weeks. In
contrast, their Southeast Asian counterparts had wobbled on
economic and geopolitical anxieties.
At 0815 GMT (3:15 p.m. Jakarta time), the dollar was quoted at
120.22 yen, above 119.99 yen late Thursday in New York. The
dollar was at 121.00 yen late Thursday in Tokyo.
The dollar finished at 1,283.1 won in South Korea, lower than
1,281.1 won Thursday.
In Taiwan the U.S. dollar ended at its intraday high of
NT$34.500, slightly lower than Thursday's NT$34.510.
The Singapore dollar closed at S$1.8265 to the U.S. dollar,
higher than S$1.8169 late Thursday.
In the Philippine the U.S. dollar closed at its intraday high
of 51.915 pesos on the Philippine Dealing System, up from 51.750
pesos Thursday.
The Thai currency was marginally weaker at 44.495 baht to the
U.S. dollar, compared with 44.480 baht late Thursday.