VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian rupiah weakened against the United States (U.S.) dollar in the Jakarta interbank market Monday evening despite the country's improving current account deficit in 2019. The rupiah fell 37 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at Rp13,712 against the dollar compared to the previous close of Rp13,675.

"Despite the positive domestic economic data and Bank Indonesia's intervention, they are still unable to strengthen the rupiah," Director of PT TRFX Garuda Berjangka Ibrahim Assuaibi said in Jakarta Monday.

Indonesia's balance of payment in the fourth quarter of 2019 saw a surplus of US$4.3 billion after suffering a deficit of $45 million in the previous quarter.

Throughout 2019, the balance of payment recorded a surplus of $4.7 billion compared to a deficit of $7.1 billion a year earlier, fueled by an improving current account deficit and a significant rise in the surplus of capital and financial accounts.

The 2019 current account deficit was recorded at $30.4 billion or 2.72 percent of the national gross domestic product compared to 2.94 percent of the GDP in the previous year.

Meanwhile, the surplus of capital and financial accounts rose significantly to $36.3 billion in 2019 from $25.2 billion in 2018.

The other sentiment is the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak which reached 910. The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed concern about the spread of the coronavirus that has claimed the lives of nearly one thousand people.

"These two factors weakened the rupiah, coupled with the strengthening U.S. non-farm employment change," Binaartha Sekuritas analyst M Nafan Aji Gusta said. (ANTARA)