Jakarta (Antara) - The rupiah currency strengthened to Rp12,190 per US dollar, on Thursday afternoon, following the announcement by Bank Indonesia (BI), Indonesian Central Bank, to maintain its benchmark reference rate at 7.5 percent. During the inter-bank transactions on Thursday afternoon, the rupiah strengthened 15 points to reach Rp12,190 after BI's rate announcement, stronger than Wednesday's closing value of Rp12,205 per US dollar. "The foreign exchange market was almost flat prior to the BI's rate announcement and then strengthened as the BI's decision to hold its rate at 7.5 percent was as per market expectation," stated Himpunan Saudara Bank's Foreign Exchange Market Analyst, Rully Nova, here on Thursday. Rully noted that the market was also waiting for the Federal Reserve's stimulus tapering. The Federal Reserve plans to hold a meeting on January 18-19, 2014. "As per the market forecast, the Federal Reserve will reduce its monthly stimulus by US$10 billion," he added. Monex Investindo Futures's analyst, Zulfirman Basir, remarked that the market was waiting for the Federal Reserve to end its tapering tantrum. He further added that the investor still continue to monitor the government policies on stabilizing inflation, lowering current account deficit, and boosting Indonesia's sluggish economy. Although the rupiah position on the foreign exchange market strengthened, but following the announcement, BI's middle rate weakened to Rp12,263 as compared to yesterday's rate at Rp12,229 per US dollar. (*)


Editor : Tunggul Susilo
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