Rupiah Gains 35 Points of Friday Morning

Jakarta - The rupiah gained 35 points against the dollar here on Friday morning due to improved economic outlook for Indonesia. The rupiah traded at Rp9,465 per dollar, up 35 points from the previous day's close of Rp9,665. Trust Securities analyst Reza Priyambada said the currency strengthened because of the optimism expressed by Bank Indonesia (BI) with regard to the country's economic outlook. "The central bank's positive feedback dispelled market concerns and pushed up the rupiah," he noted. "The rupiah also responded to the BI Board of Governors Meeting (RDG), wherein the benchmark rate (BI rate) remained at the level of 5.75 percent and the interest rate of BI Deposit Facility (Fasbi) stayed at 4 percent," Priyambada added. Apart from that, positive global cues also contributed to the strengthening of the rupiah. For instance, China's export data reflected an improvement in the economic condition of the world¿s second largest economy. "China's trade surplus has increased from US$19.6 billion to US$31.6 billion. Also, industrial production growth in France increased from 0.5 percent to 0.6 percent," Priyambada pointed out. "However, investors are still waiting for the monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB)," he added. (*)