This is a good momentum to carry out the re-denomination."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Central bank deputy governor Halim Alamsyah said that rupiah re-denomination is aimed at creating efficiency and simplifying trade calculation.
"Currently there is perception especially among Indonesian citizens who are traveling abroad that the rupiah has no value because the currency`s nominal value is too big," he said here on Thursday.
Halim said that once in 1998 the nominal value of the rupiah against the dollar rose very sharply to make the banking industry come to a halt due to the digits of the rupiah that are too many. Recording at banks was stopped for a while to remove the last three zeros and for re-calculation to be done afterwards.
According to him, the rupiah nominal value is currently the second highest after Vietnam`s dong. Therefore, to face the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, re-denomination in the context of equality among countries is important to be done.
However, familiarization is needed to provide an understanding that it is only about reducing the zeros or digits not the value.
Re-denomination is different from devaluation which is cutting the money value.
"In everyday life, people actually have consciously and already carried out re-denomination by eliminating the last three zeros like what is happening in Bali and several cafes and restaurants that write prices without writing the last three zeros," he said.
The phenomenon shows that the public is paying attention to the rupiah nominal value and wants it and also inflation not to be too high, said Halim,
"This is a good momentum to carry out the re-denomination," he said.
(Uu.A050/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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