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Jakarta riot: Bank Indonesia temporary stops mobile banknote-exchange service
The mobile outlets provide smaller denomination bills that are traditionally distributed as gifts to children during the Idul Fitri holiday, next month.
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Customers queue to exchange their banknotes at a Bank Indonesia mobile service outlet at the National Monument (Monas) park in Central Jakarta on May 13. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
B
ank Indonesia (BI) stopped on Wednesday the operation of its mobile banknote-exchange service in Jakarta after the riots that followed the announcement that incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had won the presidential election.
The mobile outlets provide smaller denomination bills that are traditionally distributed as gifts to children during the Idul Fitri holiday, next month.
“We’ve stopped the service for today. We hope we can resume the service again on Thursday if the situation is more conducive,” said BI spokesman Onny Widjanarko in Jakarta on Wednesday as reported by Antara news agency.
He stressed, however, that the function of the central bank in stabilizing the monetary, financial and payment systems would function normally. “The BI office is operating normally and we keep monitoring the situation,” Onny added.
BI has been operating 2,895 banknote-exchange outlets all over the country, preparing Rp 217.1 trillion (US$14.9 billion) in the forms of Rp 20,000, Rp 10,000 and Rp 5,000 bills, since May 13, including in the Greater Jakarta area – Tangerang in Banten and Bekasi and Depok in West Java, and also at the National Monument (Monas) park in Central Jakarta. (bbn)
