The Rupiah's Journey from 17,000 to 18,000: The Critical Milestones
The weakening of the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar is deepening by the day. The Garuda currency has now breached a new psychological level of Rp18,000/US$.
Citing Refinitiv data, the rupiah in Thursday’s (4/6/2026) trading as of 13:09 Western Indonesian Time was observed at Rp18,042/US$, or 0.57% weaker. This marks a historic moment for the rupiah as it is the first time in the spot market that this psychological level has been broken.
This morning’s weakening extends the pressure that occurred in the previous session. On Wednesday (3/6/2026), the rupiah closed sharply lower by 0.62% to Rp17,940/US$.
With this position, the rupiah continues to extend a streak of depreciation that has accelerated over the last two months, breaching new psychological levels. To illustrate, the rupiah in the spot market first touched the Rp17,000/US$ level intraday in history on Wednesday (1/4/2026). However, at that time the rupiah only hit that level during the trading session.
Not long after, precisely on Monday (6/4/2026), the rupiah closed above the Rp17,000/US$ level for the first time ever, at Rp17,030/US.ThismeansthatsincethefirstcloseaboveRp17, 000/US on 6 April 2026 until the rupiah breached Rp18,040/US$ this Thursday morning, the Garuda currency has depreciated by approximately 6.12%.
This weakening occurred over just 59 calendar days, meaning the rupiah needed less than two months to decline by around Rp1,000/US.AftertheRp17, 000/US level was breached, pressure on the rupiah continued. New psychological levels were broken one by one in a relatively short time.
Following is a summary of the rupiah’s weakening milestones:
- Rp17,100/US$
The rupiah began touching the Rp17,100/US$ area intraday on Tuesday (7/4/2026). That day, the rupiah briefly moved to Rp17,105/US.However, thefirstcloseaboveRp17, 100/US only came on Tuesday (14/4/2026) when it settled at Rp17,110/US.AfterfirstclosingaboveRp17, 000/US, the rupiah needed only about a week to rise to the next psychological area.
- Rp17,200/US$
The next pressure was seen on Thursday (23/4/2026). The rupiah not only breached Rp17,200/US$ but also moved further to Rp17,320/US.Bytheclose, therupiahsettledatRp17, 280/US. The movement that day was a significant leap, as the rupiah passed the Rp17,200/US$ area and approached Rp17,300/US$ in one trading day.
- Rp17,300/US$
Still on Thursday (23/4/2026), the rupiah also touched the Rp17,300/US$ area intraday, with a daily high of Rp17,320/US.However, therupiahtrulyclosedaboveRp17, 300/US on Thursday (30/4/2026), settling at Rp17,305/US.TherupiahthusclosedApril2026wellabovetheRp17, 000/US level.
- Rp17,400/US$
Entering May, pressure on the rupiah continued. On Tuesday (5/5/2026), the rupiah breached the Rp17,400/US$ level. During the day’s trade, it touched Rp17,445/US$ and closed at Rp17,410/US$. This level showed the rupiah’s depreciation had not stopped after April ended, opening May under heavy pressure.
- Rp17,500/US$
The Rp17,500/US$ level was first touched on Tuesday (12/5/2026), moving to Rp17,525/US$ intraday. However, it did not close above Rp17,500/US$ that day, ending at Rp17,490/US$, just below the psychological threshold.
- Rp17,600/US$
The rupiah’s depreciation deepened on Monday (18/5/2026). It breached Rp17,600/US, brieflymovingtoRp17, 670/US, and closed at Rp17,640/US$. This was the rupiah’s deepest daily depreciation against the greenback throughout 2026 so far.
- Rp17,700/US$
Just a day after touching Rp17,600/US, therupiahbrokethenextpsychologicallevelatRp17, 700/US. It was first touched intraday on Tuesday (19/5/2026), moving to Rp17,730/US$ before closing at Rp17,695/US.ThefirstcloseaboveRp17, 700/US occurred on Monday (25/5/2026), settling at Rp17,730/US$. Notably, this continued weakening came shortly after Bank Indonesia raised its benchmark interest rate, the BI Rate, by 50 basis points to 5.25% on Wednesday (20/5/2026). The hike proved unable to stem the short-term pressure.
- Rp17,800/US$
After the Idul Adha holiday on Wednesday-Thursday (27-28/5/2026), the rupiah came under heavy pressure again. On Friday (29/5/2026), it opened by plummeting directly to Rp17,800/US.Throughoutthesession, itmovedashighasRp17, 885/US, closing at Rp17,865/US$.
- Rp17,900/US$
The Rp17,900/US$ psychological level was breached just yesterday, Wednesday (4/6/2026). It closed at a much weaker position of Rp17,940/US$.
- Rp18,000/US$
It did not take long for the Rp18,000/US$ level to be breached on Thursday (4/6/2026) morning. With this, the rupiah has officially penetrated a new psychological level in the spot market, illustrating just how rapidly pressure on the rupiah has mounted over the past two months.