JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesia’s central bank said on Monday it would “intervene aggressively” in the domestic market to defend its currency hit by United States (US) President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
Trading is set to resume Tuesday for the first time since Trump last week imposed levies on friends and foes alike, rattling stock markets and alarming governments around the world.
Indonesian markets have been closed since March 28 for public holidays, with the rupiah falling to its lowest level against the US dollar since the late 1990s Asian financial crisis.
Global markets plunged Monday after China hammered the US with its own hefty tariffs, ramping up a trade war many fear could spark a recession. The central bank’s board of governors agreed yesterday to intervene in the offshore markets in Asia, Europe and New York to stabilise the currency, citing “intense global pressures” against the rupiah.
“Bank Indonesia will also intervene aggressively in the domestic foreign exchange markets… after opening on April 8, while purchasing government securities (SBN) in the secondary market,” it said in a statement.
Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ announcement saw the archipelago nation hit with an additional 32 per cent levy on its goods, higher than the baseline 10 per cent for all countries and more than Southeast Asian neighbours Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
President Prabowo Subianto said yesterday the country would negotiate with Washington to ask for a better deal.
The US is one of Indonesia’s top trading partners, and Jakarta enjoyed a USD16.8 billion trade surplus with Washington last year, according to Indonesian government data.
Washington appears to have particularly taken aim at countries that the US has a large trade deficit with.
Data from the US trade representative office shows Washington’s goods trade deficit with Jakarta was USD17.9 billion in 2024, up 5.4 per cent on the year prior.
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam were some of the worst-hit nations, being hit with tariffs of more than 40 per cent.
