Medan (ANTARA News) - The Rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar is predicted to be stable from the current level of Rp. 14,810.

"Although many believe that the Rupiah exchange rate is still too vulnerable to depreciation, BI (Bank Indonesia) is optimistic that its movement will be stable," said Head of the North Sumatra Economic Advisory Group and Development Advisor North Sumatra Hilman Tisnawan in Medan on Tuesday.

According to him, optimism refers to several factors, especially external factors.

Hilman Tisnawan said, if investors initially saw that there were benefits behind the US and Chinese (PRC) trade wars, now it was worried that it would have a negative impact on the slowdown in economic growth in their partner countries.

The concern is bad, he said, making investors try to restore it by entering portfolio funds.

"Now there are many more funds flowing into `emerging market` countries including Indonesia. So BI is more optimistic that the Rupiah can be stable," he said.

He asserted that BI continued to monitor external developments.

Currently, BI is looking at the US economy because the US Central Bank or the Federal Reserve states that it will raise interest rates.

BI also monitors the development of the effects of trade war on US opponents such as Europe, China and includes monitoring the economic conditions of "emerging" countries.

"The optimism of a stable exchange rate also looks at the PRC economy which is still good," he said.

North Sumatra economic observer Vincent Wijaya said the US-China trade war was easing.

He gave an example, if initially the US set an import duty of 25 percent on Chinese goods, the realization was only 10 percent.

Import duties on US goods to China are also subject to 10 percent.

"Hopefully the US-China trade war will stop, so that the global economy improves," he said.

Reporting by Evalisa Siregar
Editing by Eliswan

Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018