“Usually, ahead of the election, the rupiah tends to remain stable like it is right now; it does not appreciate or depreciate significantly. The market may gain volatility after the election,” said Investindo Monex money market’s futures analyst Dini Nurhadi Yasyi in Jakarta on Friday.
Once there is a negative market sentiment toward the US dollar or any external factor, the rupiah could strengthen significantly. “I think this election is important because it will impact the market sentiment over the rupiah. It is important to maintain the market sentiment and interest,” Yasyi noted.
Back in 2014, the rupiah had weakened to Rp12,000 per US dollar and it was hard to get the rate to increase.
The rupiah continued weakening, and eventually, in late 2014, the rupiah reached its highest rate of Rp12,900 per US dollar.
Until now, the rupiah has been increasingly devaluing and has not yet gone back to Rp12,000 per US dollar.
“So in my opinion, it is quite crucial to maintaining the market sentiment as of now when the country’s political situation is not yet stable due to the elections and the global situation,” she said.
Translator: Azizah Fitriyanti, Safira Hali
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
