Thailand
Indonesia: Rupiah Strengthens by 10 points Wednesday Morning
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The rupiah was trading stronger by 10 points to Rp13,314 per US dollar in Jakarta interbank market this morning.
Samuel Sekuritas economist Rangga Cipta said today that the rupiah is getting stronger against US dollar as the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) releases July inflation figures that remain steady.
“Despite lower inflation due to weakened consumer purchasing power, the market has responded positively,” he said.
The BPS records 0.22 inflation rate in July. As such, 2017 year to date inflation rate was 2.6 percent and the year-on-year inflation rate was 3.88 percent.
He added that market players will also turn their attention to the gross domestic product (GDP) data for the second quarter of 2017 which is projected to improve. GDP growth is expected to make room for the rupiah to continue to gain, he said.
“Indonesia’s GDP is improving, coupled with stable inflation and weaker US dollar on the global market, they may drive the rupiah to get stronger,” he said.
However, he said that the rupiah gains may be undermined by changes in global crude prices. The WTI crude slipped 1.00 percent to 48.67 US dollars per barrel and Brent crude oil prices dropped by 0.93 percent to 51.30 US dollars per barrel.
Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2017/08/02/056896380/Rupiah-Strengthens-by-10-points-Wednesday-Morning