Indonesia central bank says ready to stabilise rupiah if needed

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s central bank is ready to stabilise the rupiah, including through intervention if there was excessive volatility, an official said on Wednesday after the currency weakened as traders reacted to incoming U.S. election results.Fitra Jusdiman, a director at Bank Indonesia’s Monetary and Securities Asset Management Department, told Reuters the rupiah’s fall to three-month lows against the U.S. dollar reflected sentiment on the U.S. election.

“Current market development is currently dominated by U.S. election sentiment that for now indicates a potential win for presidential candidate Donald Trump,” he said

“This has led to a broad-based U.S. dollar strengthening against most other currencies,” he said.

The rupiah fell by as much as 0.7% against the dollar to 15,840, its weakest level since Aug. 13, data from LSEG showed.

Bank Indonesia (BI) held rates steady at its October policy meeting as it focused on rupiah stability amid rising tension in the Middle East and to keep inflation in check. The next policy decision is due on Nov. 20.