"Based on Indonesian economic fundamentals the rupiah exchange rate should have tended to strengthen," Darmin Nasution said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Bank Indonesia Governor Darmin Nasution said the central bank would continue safeguarding the fluctuation of the country`s currency so that it would not depreciate or appreciate too significantly.
"The rupiah has indeed been fluctuating recently but one must not see the rupiah only as various other currencies have also weakened following the appreciation of the US dollar," he said after a discussion on fiscal and monetary policy coordination at Bank Indonesia Building here on Friday.
The rupiah fluctuations were naturally influenced by global economic conditions and would not happen for a long time, he said.
"Based on Indonesian economic fundamentals the rupiah exchange rate should have tended to strengthen," he said.
This was because of several factors in economic fundamentals such as inflation and balance of payment which were good, he said.
Regarding efforts BI would take to maintain the rupiah stability Darmin said he would not raise the BI Rate soon because it is not the right answer for external balance problem but would rather serve as a tightening measure.
"We would remain in the market and there would be no direct intervention but we would pay attention to the fundamentals and would not let them move freely," he said.
The rupiah moved up to Rp9,540 against the US dollar at an inter-bank transaction Friday morning, from Rp9,550 at the close on Thursday afternoon.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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