Rupiah Nears Rp 18,000 Mark as Bank Indonesia Tightens US Dollar Purchase Limits
Bank Indonesia (BI) has stated that it continues to closely monitor global and domestic financial market developments to maintain the stability of the rupiah exchange rate and strengthen external resilience. The Indonesian currency has recently breached the Rp 17,900 level per US dollar.
“Bank Indonesia remains active in the market, optimising all available policy instruments to ensure market mechanisms function correctly and to maintain sufficient foreign exchange liquidity to support financial market stability,” said Ramdan Denny Prakoso, Head of the BI Communication Department, in an official statement on Wednesday (2/6/2026).
Denny explained that one of BI’s strategic policies is the implementation of a threshold for US dollar purchases. In April 2026, BI reduced the limit for purchasing US dollars without underlying documentation from $100,000 per person per month to $50,000 per person per month. This policy has since been tightened further.
As of June 2026, the restriction has been lowered again from $50,000 per person per month to $25,000 per person per month. It is hoped that these efforts will contribute to reducing pressure on the rupiah. “Starting 2 June 2026, Bank Indonesia has enforced a threshold for cash foreign exchange purchases against the Rupiah without underlying documentation at $25,000 per actor per month,” he explained.
Denny continued, noting that BI also continues to encourage the use of local currencies in bilateral cooperation through the Local Currency Transaction (LCT) scheme. This is an effort to reduce dependence on the US dollar and mitigate exchange rate volatility risks. Such cooperation has been established with China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“Bank Indonesia believes that the stability of the rupiah exchange rate requires synergy from all stakeholders. Therefore, Bank Indonesia continues to strengthen coordination with the government, the Financial Services Authority (OJK), the banking sector, the business community, and market participants to ensure market mechanisms work effectively and to strengthen the external resilience of the national economy,” he added.
According to Bloomberg, the rupiah opened weaker by 39 points or 0.22 per cent at the level of Rp 17,878 per US dollar. By approximately 13:59 WIB, the currency had breached Rp 17,959 per US dollar, marking the weakest point in the rupiah’s history.
Previously, amidst the trend of rupiah depreciation, BI Governor Perry Warjiyo revealed on Tuesday (5/5/2026) that President Prabowo Subianto had provided him with directives to implement a seven-step strategy to stabilise the exchange rate. One of these steps involved limiting US dollar purchases in the domestic market without underlying documentation, reducing the limit from $100,000 to $50,000 per person per month, a policy BI has maintained since April 2026. Warjiyo noted that plans were in place to reduce this nominal amount further.