Rupiah Weakens, BI Reveals Countries Whose Currencies Are Also Depreciating

Bank Indonesia (BI) confirms that the rupiah’s exchange rate movement since the start of the Middle East conflict until now, breaching the Rp17,400 per US dollar level, remains in line with the majority of other emerging market currencies. BI states that several other countries are also experiencing currency weakening similar to Indonesia’s. “The Philippine peso weakened by 6.58 per cent, the Thai baht by 5.04 per cent, the Indian rupee by 4.32 per cent, as well as the Chilean peso (minus 4.24 per cent), the Indonesian rupiah (minus 3.65 per cent), and the Korean won (minus 2.29 per cent),” said Head of the Monetary and Asset Management Department at BI, Erwin Gunawan Hutapea, in a written statement in Jakarta on Tuesday (5/5/2026). BI states that it will continue to be present in the market to ensure that market mechanisms run smoothly in order to maintain rupiah exchange rate stability in line with its fundamental value. The central bank is also continuing to optimise interventions in the foreign exchange market through non-deliverable forward (NDF) transactions in the offshore market, spot and domestic non-deliverable forward (DNDF) transactions in the domestic market, as well as purchases of Government Securities (SBN) in the secondary market. “These steps are taken consistently to maintain rupiah exchange rate stability amid ongoing global pressures,” said Erwin. BI also reaffirms its commitment to always be present in the market and take necessary steps consistently and in a measured manner to maintain rupiah exchange rate stability. The US dollar exchange rate against the rupiah was at around Rp17,426 per US dollar on Tuesday (5/5/2026) at 10.41 WIB, referring to the spot price in the global foreign exchange market. Based on the latest data, Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserves position at the end of March 2026 was recorded at $148.2 billion, down by $3.7 billion from the February 2026 position of $151.9 billion. Although down, BI ensures that this amount is equivalent to financing 6.0 months of imports or 5.8 months of imports and government foreign debt payments, and is above the international adequacy standard of around 3 months of imports.