Powell has issued the signal that tapering will be conducted at the end of 2021, as the US economy continues to recover. Market players had anticipated this in recent months.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The rupiah exchange rate to the US dollar transacted at the Jakarta interbank market at the start of the week strengthened as the US central bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed), signaled tapering this year.

At 10:18 a.m. local time, the Indonesian currency opened 45 points higher, or 0.31 percent, to Rp14,373 per US dollar as compared to Rp14,418 per US dollar during the closing of the previous trade.

The rupiah’s movement will be largely driven by global factors, Bank Mandiri’s money market analyst, Rully Arya, told Antara here on Monday.

The market responded positively to The Fed Governor Jerome Powell’s statement at the Jackson Hole’s symposium last weekend, according to Arya.

“Powell has issued the signal that tapering will be conducted at the end of 2021, as the US economy continues to recover. Market players had anticipated this in recent months,” he outlined.


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The daily count of COVID-19 cases in the country as of Sunday, August 29, 2021, reached below 10 thousand, or added 7,427 cases to the 4.07 million of the total confirmed COVID-19 positive cases.

Meanwhile, death toll due to COVID-19 touched 551 cases, thereby totaling 131,923. On the other hand, the number of recoveries rose by 16,468, adding to 3.72 million cases of the total recovered patients. Thus, the total count of active COVID-19 cases reached 217,590.


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With regard to vaccination, the number of residents receiving the first dose of vaccine reached 61.65 million, while those administered the second dose reached 34.86 million of the targeted 208 million residents.

Arya noted that the rupiah today potentially strengthened, from Rp14,395 to Rp14,463 per US dollar.

On Friday, August 27, 2021, the rupiah closed stagnant at Rp14,418 per US dollar or same as the previous trade’s closure.


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Translator: Citro Atmoko, Juwita Trisna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021