The central bank (Bank Indonesia/BI) decided to hold its benchmark 7-day reverse repo rate at 5.25% in July 19, following three consecutive rate hikes to support the rupiah which already fell almost 6% in 2018 and is trading at its weakest level in near three years. The lending and the deposit facility rates were also left steady at 6% and 4.5%, respectively.
BI earlier raised its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis point to 5.25%, to maintain the domestic financial market’s competitiveness against several countries’ changing monetary policies as well as high global uncertainty.
