Indonesia’s rupiah inched higher to around IDR 17,910 per U.S. dollar on Friday, breaking a two-day losing streak as the dollar index softened. The greenback weakened after President Trump suggested a peace deal with Iran could be signed in Europe this weekend, easing geopolitical tensions and curbing demand for safe-haven assets.
Domestic efforts to support the currency also drew attention, with Deputy House Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad urging citizens to sell their U.S. dollars to help stabilise the rupiah, which has recently hit repeated record lows. Market focus now shifts to Bank Indonesia’s policy meeting next week, where analysts expect policymakers to maintain a tightening bias after delivering 75 basis points of rate hikes since May.
The central bank has also projected that the rupiah could strengthen to a range of IDR 16,800–17,500 next year. However, further gains were limited by weak April data showing the first year-on-year decline in retail sales in twelve months, highlighting the dampening impact of higher non-subsidized fuel prices on consumption.
On a weekly basis, the rupiah is up about 0.8% so far, marking its first weekly advance in eleven weeks.
