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View all search resultsWeakening rupiah spurs Indonesians to eye property abroad
Signs of a flight to safer assets also emerge in the first quarter as rupiah weakness and heightened uncertainty prompt people to diversify wealth and seek protection from depreciation.
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A pedestrian bridge across Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta is seen bathed in pink light. (The Jakarta Post/Iqbal Yuwansyah)
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s the rupiah weakens against the US dollar and market uncertainty deepens, overseas property is increasingly being considered by wealthy individuals seeking to shelter their money in more stable havens and hedge against currency depreciation.
The shift comes as President Prabowo Subianto’s administration struggles to get its flagship housing program off the ground, while fiscal incentives such as value-added tax (VAT) exemptions for home purchases have shown limited impact in improve affordability or apartment demand.
The rupiah slid to a record Rp 17,600 per US dollar on Friday, extending a longer-term trend of depreciation and making it among of Asia’s weakest-performing currencies this year.
The currency weakened around 4 percent in the first quarter alone and roughly 10 percent over the past two years, adding to concerns among investors seeking to preserve purchasing power.
“Overseas property investment can help reduce exposure to rupiah depreciation,” Samuel Sekuritas Indonesia research managing director Harry Su told The Jakarta Post on Saturday, placing overseas real estate among the options for safe haven.
“However, given that worldwide inflation is rising because of higher energy costs on the back of the Iran war, sentiment on property is likely to be weak globally,” he added, cautioning that global real estate is not immune to broader macroeconomic shocks.
The growing appetite for dollar-based assets, foreign stocks and overseas property reflects a rational response to protecting wealth as the currency weakens, though it also points to eroding confidence in the currency’s stability, said Rizal Taufikurrahman, head of the center for macroeconomics and finance at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef).
