President Jokowi Applauds BI for Protecting Rupiah

President Jokowi delivers remarks at 2018 BI Annual Meeting at JCC Jakarta, Tuesday (27/11). (Photo: JAY/PR)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo expressed appreciation to central bank Bank Indonesia (BI) for the extra efforts in protecting Rupiah exchange rate amidst global turmoil that continues to affect national economy.

“I am very much aware of how hard the battle is from time to time,” President Jokowi said at the Bank Indonesia Annual Meeting at Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Jakarta, Tuesday (27/11).

The President acknowledged that BI had intervened the market by hiking interest rates to stabilize the currency against US Dollar, leading to the Rupiah strengthening significantly in the last 3 weeks and staying in the range of Rp14,500 per US dollar (26/11)hari apa tanggal berapa).

President Jokowi went on say that the central bank on 15 November once again surprised the market by raising the Rupiah interest rate by 0.25% or 25 points to 6%.

Data showed that from 31 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, only 3 of them predicted that BI would raise the interest rate and the market was really surprised by the decision. “This decision was welcomed by the market and BI has showed its determination to protect the Rupiah,” said the President.

Translated by: Estu Widyamurti
Edited by: M. Ersan Pamungkas