The rupiah slumped to as low as 10,968.35 against the Singdollar, amid a sell-off of Indonesian assets due to rising US interest rates, contagion fear from other emerging market crises and the China-US trade war.
“At this point, it looks like emerging market pressures may persist for a while. This pressure has been going on amid the US interest rate normalisation and the Sino-US trade tensions,” said OCBC Bank economist Alan Lau.
The persistent weakening of the rupiah is, however, beneficial for visitors to Indonesia like Singaporean Herman Armando, who is able to use the rate to his advantage. "Being half-Indonesian, it means so much more for me as I am able to go back more often to visit my relatives,” he told Channel NewsAsia.
Unfortunately, the ongoing depreciation places pressure on the financials of Indonesian businesses.
