The Indonesian rupiah touched a four-year low of 16300 per USD in April, following a trend of weakening Asian currencies due to expectations of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates high and uncertainty in the Middle East causing a flight to safety. A lackluster outlook for the Chinese economy and China’s weak yuan fix is also weighing while the weakening of the rupiah is further exacerbated by current account deficits and capital outflows stemming from risk aversion. In response to the recent market turbulence, the central bank has intervened to stabilize the currency. “Bank Indonesia is taking steps to maintain rupiah stability by maintaining supply-demand balance in foreign exchange market, through triple interventions,” Edi Susianto, the central bank’s head of monetary department, said. The rupiah lost about 5% against the greenback this year and is one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia.
