Indonesia is ready to intervene to stabilize the rupiah while Trump leads the way

JAKARTA: Bank Indonesia said it is ready to take action to save the rupiah from excessive volatility as Donald Trump’s early lead in the US presidential race boosts the dollar’s strength.

“BI will always monitor the exchange rate movements of the rupiah and other currencies, and will certainly make various attempts to stabilize the exchange rate if there is an excessive increase in volatility,” said Fitra Jusdiman, director of monetary and securities management, in a cellphone message on Wednesday (Nov. 6).

The central bank will deploy its so-called triple intervention, targeting the foreign exchange market, domestic non-deliverable futures markets and secondary government bond markets, he added.

The rupiah fell 0.6% to 15,828 against the US dollar in trading on Wednesday morning, its weakest level in almost three months. Jusdiman said the depreciation is “relatively in line” with forecasts and the movement of most Asian currencies as Trump leads the vote count.

“BI has anticipated various scenarios of the US presidential election results and has also prepared measures for their possible consequences,” he said. -Bloomberg