It seems that the demand for US dollars is quite high. Seasonally, it is always high in the second quarter due to foreign debt interest and dividend payments.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The rupiah fell in the Jakarta inter-bank spot market on Tuesday evening on a high demand for US dollars.

The Indonesian currency weakened 49 points or 0.34 percent, to Rp14,257 per US dollar as compared to Rp14,208 per US dollar earlier

"It seems that the demand for US dollars is quite high. Seasonally, it is always high in the second quarter due to foreign debt interest and dividend payments," analyst of state lender PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk Rully Arya Wisnubroto said here on Tuesday.

Money market analyst Dini Nurhadi Yasyi of Monex Investindo Futures said the rupiah weakened as investors are awaiting the results of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting early Thursday (May 2).

"As a matter of fact, the dollar index also weakened today because (investors) are awaiting the Fed's monetary policy. The shortfall in global crude prices has also not been able to push the rupiah's exchange rate," he said.

The high global crude prices had earlier negatively impacted the rupiah because they could threaten the country's current account deficit. Although the global crude prices fell in the past two days, the shortfall is yet to push the rupiah.

"On the domestic side, there is no positive catalyst that can push the rupiah further," he said.

The rupiah strengthened at Rp14,205 per US dollar during the morning trade. Throughout the day, it moved within the range of Rp14,205 to Rp14,265 per US dollar.

Translator: Citro Atmoko, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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