Arnoldus Kristianus, Jakarta – Indonesia has injected Rp 8 trillion ($443 million) into the bond market to help stabilize the rupiah as the currency weakened beyond Rp 18,000 per US dollar, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said on Thursday.
The disclosure came after the rupiah crossed the psychologically important Rp 18,000 threshold amid ongoing pressure from global uncertainty and capital outflows.
Purbaya said the government was also working to maintain attractive yields on government bonds in order to support foreign investor demand for Indonesian debt instruments.
Higher foreign participation in the bond market is expected to help strengthen the rupiah through increased capital inflows, he said.
"There has been around Rp 8 trillion injected into the bond market. Actually, this information should not be disclosed, but I want you to know that we are carrying out some intervention," Purbaya told lawmakers at the parliament complex in Jakarta.
Purbaya acknowledged that the weakening rupiah would increase the government's debt-servicing burden in local currency terms. However, he said the fiscal impact remained manageable.
"When the rupiah weakens, debt payments in rupiah terms increase. But this is still within our calculation range," he said.
In a separate statement, Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Destry Damayanti said the central bank had continued intensifying market intervention efforts to ensure orderly market conditions and maintain exchange-rate stability in line with economic fundamentals.
The central bank has also strengthened the interest-rate structure of its pro-market monetary instruments to keep domestic assets attractive to foreign investors, she said.
"Overall, the rupiah's depreciation remains broadly in line with regional currencies, weakening 7.44% year-to-date. Foreign exchange reserves also remained solid at $146.2 billion at the end of April 2026," Destry said.
Bank Indonesia is also continuing efforts to reduce dependence on the US dollar by expanding bilateral local currency transaction arrangements with China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates.
According to Destry, trade transactions conducted under the Local Currency Transaction framework reached approximately $22.7 billion in April 2026, while cumulative transactions during 2026 totaled $25.7 billion.