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Rupiah under pressure Monday
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An employee counts rupiah bills at a money changer in Jakarta on March 14. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
T
he rupiah was still under pressure on Monday when it reached Rp 14,859 to the US dollar, after reaching Rp 14,835 to the dollar on Friday, weakening by 0.16 percent, according to the Jakarta interbank spot dollar rate (JISDOR).
Samuel Sekuritas Indonesia economist Ahmad Mikail said on Monday the US dollar index was expected to strengthen to a level of between 94.75 and 95.
He said the dollar strengthening was supported by 6.6 percent growth in retail sales year-on-year (yoy) and the industrial production index (IPI) in the United States, which reached 4.9 percent yoy.
The two figures were higher than analysts’ estimation, which were 4.8 percent yoy for retail sales and 3.6 percent yoy for the IPI.
“The strong data is an initial indication of household spending growth in the US in the third quarter of 2018,” said Ahmad as reported by kontan.co.id.
Meanwhile, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Monday that the trade deficit in August was US$1.02 billion, about half of July's deficit, which was $2.03 billion.
“The trade balance, which is still in deficit, is thought to be the reason behind negative sentiment leading to today’s rupiah exchange rate amid the US dollar’s appreciation against other world currencies,” Ahmad added. (bbn)
