CEO Morning Brief

Indonesian Businesses Sound Alarm Over Rupiah’s Continued Slump

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Publish date: Thu, 27 Jun 2024, 10:21 AM
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TheEdge CEO Morning Brief

(June 26): Indonesian companies are raising their concern over how the rupiah’s weakness is raising their costs.

The currency was the main agenda at a closed-door meeting between members of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, known as Kadin, and Bank Indonesia governor Perry Warjiyo on Tuesday.

“We want to get direct answers from Bank Indonesia,” Kadin chairman Arsjad Rasjid told reporters after the meeting, as cited by Bisnis Indonesia.

The weaker exchange rate has increased the cost of importing raw materials and capital goods for companies across various sectors, from food and beverages to aviation. More expensive foreign debt payments are also weighing on the businesses.

The rupiah has slid more than 6% against the dollar this year, the most in Southeast Asia after the Thai baht. The currency weakened 0.2% to close at 16,405 a dollar on Wednesday, near a four-year-low reached last week.

The companies’ outcry is worsening pressure on the central bank, whose mandate includes maintaining currency stability, to take more action to defend the rupiah. Warjiyo told parliament on Monday that he refrained from raising the benchmark interest rate further to support growth, and that he would be ready to do so if needed.

Bank Indonesia has resorted to market interventions to stabilise the exchange rate and sold high-yield rupiah securities to bring in capital inflow.

Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja

Source: TheEdge - 27 Jun 2024

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