Rupiah Exchange Rate Set at Rp15.000 per USD in 2019 State Budget
Macro Basic Assumptions for 2019 State Budget
The House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI) has approved the 2019 State Budget Bill (RUU APBN) to become the 2019 State Budget at a plenary meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday (31/10).
The plenary meeting agreed on several basic macroeconomic assumptions for the 2019 State Budget, namely: 5.3% economic growth; 3.5% inflation; 3-month treasury bills (SPN) interest rate of 5.3%; exchange rate Rp15,000 per US dollar; price of crude oil 70 US dollar/barrel; oil lifting at 775 barrels/day; and gas lifting 1,250 barrels/day.
Related to amount changes of the Rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar from Rp 14,400 per US dollar in 2018 to Rp15,000 per US dollar in 2019, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that the Government follows the latest developments of Rupiah exchange rate.
Based on the latest economic developments and referring to Indonesian central bank Bank Indonesias proposals regarding Rupiah exchange rate movements in 2018 in the range of Rp14,800 per US dollar to Rp15,200 per US dollar, the Government proposes the average Rupiah exchange rate assumption at Rp15,000/US dollar, said Sri Mulyani at a press conference, adding that the decision was taken in line with the Governments efforts to develop a realistic and credible state budget.
The Minister went on say that these changes were particularly affected by the US economic development with the normalization of monetary policy and expansionary fiscal policy, as well as global uncertainties which led to the movement of capital flows to developed countries.
This condition certainly brings a huge impact on the performance of the domestic economy, especially Rupiah exchange rate, she said.
However, Sri Mulyani assured that the Government, together with Bank Indonesia, will continue to implement policies that can stabilize Rupiah exchange rate as an effort to strengthen foreign exchange reserves so that Rupiah exchange rate will not suffer from further depreciation. (PR Division of Ministry of Finance/ES)
Translated by: Estu Widyamurti
Edited by: Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas
