EU foreign ministers and US President Barack Obama are due to discuss further sanctions against Russia. According to the EU and USA, the Moscow-backed referendum was illegal. Pro-Russian forces took control of Crimea, the peninsula of Crimea in southern Ukraine, in February.

Global investors are also in anticipation of the US Federal Reserve's two-day meeting that starts on Tuesday (18/03). Speculation emerged that the Fed will continue to cut its bond-buying program (quantitative easing) by USD $10 billion a month.

Based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the rupiah had appreciated 0.58 percent to IDR 11,290 per US dollar at 15:10 local Jakarta time on Monday (17/03), a 19-week high backed by inflows of foreign funds in Indonesia's financial markets. Today, the rupiah was the best-performing Asian currency against the greenback. The US dollar performed mixed against other Asian currencies.

Bank Indonesia's benchmark rupiah rate (Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate, abbreviated JISDOR) appreciated 1.23 percent on Monday (17/03) to IDR 11,272 per US dollar after having absorbed the news about Jokowi's candidacy.

| Source: Bank Indonesia


Further Reading:

Jokowi Candidate for Indonesian Presidency; Markets React Positively
The Jokowi Effect: Indonesia's Financial Markets Gain on Political Certainty
Bank Indonesia Keeps Benchmark Interest Rate (BI Rate) at 7.50% in March

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