Rupiah Weakens Today, Purbaya: We Leave It to the Experts, Bank Indonesia

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa believes Bank Indonesia (BI) is capable of strengthening and controlling the rupiah exchange rate as before. It is known that at today’s close, the rupiah was at the level of Rp 17,529 per US dollar. “We leave it to the experts, the Central Bank. I think they will be able to control (the rupiah) well,” Purbaya explained, quoted from Kontan, Tuesday (12/5/2026). The Ministry of Finance is prepared to activate the Bond Stabilization Fund (BSF) to help stabilise the market for Government Securities (SBN) and curb the pace of rupiah depreciation. The hope is that the BSF will attract foreign funds into Indonesia. Using the surplus budget (SAL), the Ministry of Finance is intervening in the market to accelerate the rupiah’s strengthening. “We will try to help the exchange rate, we will assist BI little by little if possible. We still have a lot of idle money (Surplus Budget/SAL), we intervene in the bond market so that the yield does not rise too high,” said Purbaya. The increasing intensity of conflicts is impacting the rupiah’s weakening due to rising world oil prices accompanied by global uncertainty. “The rupiah pressure today has increased because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East with increasing intensity,” he said, quoted from Kompas.com, Tuesday (12/5/2026). In the domestic market, the increasing need for foreign exchange (valas) is adding pressure on the rupiah. “From the domestic side, the increasing seasonal need for dollars,” said Destry.