The Indonesia rupiah exchange rate is moving sideways on Wednesday's trading day (08/01). At 13:00 local Jakarta time, the rupiah was down 0.02 percent to IDR 12,240 per US dollar based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index. This morning the US dollar slightly depreciated against most Asian currencies after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said to plan to upgrade its forecast for global economic growth as the US economy improves. Yesterday, Indonesia held Asia's largest US dollar-denominated bonds since 1998.

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In line with most other Asia-Pacific currencies, the Indonesia rupiah exchange rate continued its depreciating trend against the US dollar on Tuesday morning (07/01). Market participants tend to avoid the rupiah and prefer to wait & see for international data first. For example, today's release of the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). This will inform about the stance of Federal Reserve officials on the winding down of the quantitative easing program (planned for this January).

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The Indonesia rupiah exchange rate continued its downward trend on Monday (23/12). Both Bank Indonesia's Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR) and Bloomberg's Dollar Index showed a depreciating rupiah. The JISDOR, which was launched by Bank Indonesia in May to manage exchange rate fluctuations, fell 0.01 percent to IDR 12,246 per US dollar, while the Bloomberg Dollar Index indicated a 0.29 percent decline of the rupiah to IDR 12,250 per US dollar at 14:10:09 afternoon, local Jakarta time.

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Indonesia's Finance Minister Chatib Basri expects that Indonesia's economic growth in 2013 will reach 5.7 percent, significantly below the government's initial target of 6.3 percent. Basri announced his expectation at the government's economic evaluation and projection meeting. According to Basri, Indonesia's economic growth is stable, despite its slowing trend. Among the G20 member countries, only China will post higher GDP growth (7.8 percent up to the third quarter). Indonesia's inflation rate is expected to reach 8.5 percent (yoy) at the year-end.

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The central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve (FED), announced that it will start winding down its quantitative easing program in January 2014. Currently, the Fed purchases USD $85 billion worth of bonds per month but this amount will be reduced to USD $75 billion next month. The Fed came to this decision as prospects of the US labor market have shown a marked improvement, while economic growth is expected to accelerate to between 2.8 and 3.2 percent in 2014 and between 3.0 to 3.4 percent in 2015.

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The Bank of Japan (BoJ) and Bank Indonesia (BI) signed the third Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) on 12 December 2013. The arrangement is an expansion of the current BSA which almost doubles the size of the facility from USD $12 billion to $22.76 billion. This arrangement also introduces a new feature in the form of a crisis prevention scheme to support potential and/or actual liquidity needs. Both institutions also agreed to establish a cross-border liquidity arrangement to enhance the stability of financial markets.

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In Bank Indonesia's Board of Governors' meeting - held on Thursday (12/12) - it was decided to keep the country's benchmark interest rate (BI rate) at 7.50 percent. Executive Director of Bank Indonesia's Communication Department Difi A. Johansyah said that the current rate of 7.50 percent is in line with the institution's inflation target of 4.5 percent (plus or minus one percent). The lending facility and deposite facility (Fasbi) rates are also maintained at 7.5 percent and 5.75 percent respectively.

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The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) announced that Indonesia’s official reserve assets totaled USD $97.0 billion at the end of November 2013 thus unchanged from the end of the previous month. Bank Indonesia stated that this amount is equivalent to 5.5 months of import or 5.3 months of import and servicing of government external debt. After having grown sharply in recent years, Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves have fallen from USD $112.8 billion at end-2012 as Bank Indonesia tried to support the depreciating rupiah exchange rate.

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According to the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the Indonesia rupiah exchange rate fell 0.09 percent to IDR 11,976 per US dollar as per 13:46:18 local Jakarta time on Friday (06/12). It is expected that this slight depreciation of the rupiah will continue for the remainder of the trading day. The rupiah received some support from Moody's Investors Service, which stated that the rupiah depreciation itself is not a trigger for a rating downgrade. The ratings agency affirmed the country's Baa3 rating due to Indonesia's strong growth and low debt level.

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The Indonesia rupiah exchange rate continued its depreciation on Wednesday (04/12). The central bank's Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate fell 1.09 percent to IDR 11,960 per US dollar after absorbing the impact of the currency's weak performance on yesterday's spot market. On Tuesday (03/12), local Indonesian companies were buying US dollars at a more attractive exchange rate after the currency had appreciated previously, thus placing serious downward pressure on the currency of Southeast Asia's largest economy.

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The Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG) rebounded on Thursday's trading day (17/10), supported by good news from the United States where finally an agreement was reached regarding the US debt ceiling. This agreement brought positive market sentiments on Asian stock markets, including the IHSG which rose 0.59% to 4,518.93 points. Moreover, Indonesia's minister of Economy Hatta Rajasa stated that Indonesia had not been significantly impacted by the US shutdown issue and this statement also managed to ease investors' concerns.

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The benchmark stock index of Indonesia (IHSG) was down 0.61 percent to 4,492.26 on its first trading day after the Idul Adha celebrations (when Muslims remember that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son to God). The main reason why the IHSG was down on Wednesday (16/10) was due to continued uncertainty about the US debt ceiling issue, while the deadline (17/10) is closing in. Fitch Ratings put US Treasury bonds on Rating Watch Negative, which might be a first step before a downgrade.

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On 12 October 2013 Finance Minister and Central Bank Governors from Korea and Indonesia agreed to establish a bilateral KRW/IDR swap arrangement in the near future. The size of the swap arrangement is up to KRW 10.7 trillion/IDR 115 trillion (equivalent to USD $10 billion). The effective period of the facility will be three years, and could be extended by agreement by both sides. This Bilateral Currency Swap Arrangement (BCSA) aims to promote bilateral trade and further strengthen financial cooperation, an objective of mutual interest to both countries.

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Although part of the market players on Indonesia's Stock Exchange (IDX) engaged in profit taking after Indonesia's benchmark index (IHSG) climbed for two consecutive days, the index still posted growth of 0.71 percent to 4,418.64 points on Thursday (03/10). Factors that contributed to today's gain were the depreciating US dollar as no solution has been found yet concerning the shutdown, generally rising Asian stock indices and the positive message that is conveyed in the APEC meeting in Bali.

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Despite some appetite for profit taking, the key stock index of Indonesia (IHSG) was able to rise 0.96 percent to 4,387.60 points on Wednesday (02/10). The index was supported by the appreciating rupiah, a few rising Asian stock indices and foreign net stock purchases. The Indonesian rupiah rose against the US dollar as the latter was impacted upon by the debt ceiling and shutdown issue in the USA. Asian stock indices were mixed. Concerns about the shutdown were offset by rising Asian currencies against the US dollar.

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On this week's second day of trading (01/10), the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (IHSG) was able to post a 0.69 percent rise to 4,345.90 points despite ongoing concerns about the economic shutdown in the United States as discussions have not led to agreement about the country's debt ceiling. However, various data from Asia made a good impact. Indonesia's trade surplus in August and deflation in September contributed to positive market sentiments and provided a boost for the rupiah.

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Concerns about the US debt ceiling issue have a negative impact on stock indices around the world, including Indonesia's benchmark stock index (IHSG). Market players fear a possible deadlock during the state budget discussions, which - if not resolved - will have a serious negative impact on the economy. Factors that contributed to negative market sentiments were the continued depreciating value of rupiah and weak openings of European stock indices. The IHSG fell 2.43 percent to 4,316.18 on Monday (30/09).

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Indonesia's benchmark stock index (IHSG) was up 0.40 percent to 4,423.72 on Friday (27/09). The gain was mainly carried by demand for a number of Indonesian blue chip stocks. Astra International rose 1.16 percent after Deutsche Securities Indonesia, Credit Suisse Securities Indonesia and Citigroup Securities Indonesia increased their stakes in one of Indonesia's largest diversified conglomerates. Other blue chips that performed well were Perusahaan Gas Negara, Bank Mandiri, Telekomunikasi Indonesia and Indofood Sukses Makmur.

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As had been hoped, after closing the gap at 4.375-4.403, Indonesia's benchmark stock index (IHSG) did not continue its fall at the same pace as it had in the past couple of days. Investors were still cautious, however, and took a wait and see attitude. Foreign investors were net sellers of Indonesian stocks, while the rupiah exchange rate kept depreciating. Moreover, Asian stock indices were mixed and thus provided no good support for the IHSG. The index fell 0.02 percent to 4,405.89. Domestic investors were net buyers of Indonesian stocks.

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Both the Indonesian currency and the benchmark stock index (IHSG) continued their fall on Tuesday (24/09). Wall Street's weak performance on the last three trading days was a major factor that brought negative market sentiments to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). Even good openings in Europe were not able to push the IHSG back into green territory. The index fell 2.25 percent to 4,460.41 points. Foreign investors were net sellers of Indonesian stocks, while domestic investors were net buyers.

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