Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution urged the public on Tuesday not to panic about the weakening rupiah as the currency settles at Rp 13,900 against the US dollar, according to the Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR).
The rate shows a decline from Friday, when the rupiah stood at 13,804 against the US dollar, and in March at around 13,700.
While Darmin agreed that Indonesia would likely enter a new monetary balance, he stressed that the condition was far away from turmoil.
The public should be aware that the depreciation has barely made a mark on the domestic inflation rate, as food prices and administered prices remain unaffected, he said.
“Nothing is forcing us to mitigate the situation; we don’t need to panic,” Darmin said, adding that the rupiah was still faring better than the currency of other Asian countries in terms of depreciation rate.
“This weakening was caused by external factors, like [fears of a] trade war and the possible Federal Reserve interest rate increase,” Darmin told reporters on Tuesday. (bbn)
