The rupiah traded at Rp9,567 per dollar at the Jakarta interbank spot market late Tuesday against Rp8,572 per dollar the day before, down 5 points, Rully Nova of PT Bank Saudara Tbk said on Tuesday.
He said the rupiah came under pressure because of the weakening global market after foreign investors were worried about the prospects of their countries` economic growth.
Moreover, The Federal Reserve Bank (The Fed) was planning to issue global bonds as part of efforts to raise public funds to boost the US economy, he said.
Rully said the European economy that showed signs of uncertainty, coupled with China`s plan to tighten its liquidity aroused concern that the US economy began to slow down.
Actually, the condition benefited Indonesia because it would encourage foreign capital inflows to the country, he said.
Therefore, he added the government should increase its budget spending to achieve higher economic growth.
"We are optimistic that the market will give positive responses if the government raises its budget spending to up to 15 percent," he said.
He said the rupiah still had a great chance to strengthen again in the days ahead. Compared to other markets, Indonesia would remain attractive, supported by the benchmark interest rate of 6.75 percent.
"We are optimistic that the Indonesian economy will expand by a minimum of 6.8 percent in the second quarter of 2011," he said.
(T.H-CS/S012/HAJM)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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