May 20, 2026 | 11:03 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa expressed optimism that the rupiah could strengthen in the near term as foreign capital begins returning to Indonesia’s bond market.Purbaya said the government has taken several measures to maintain stability in the domestic financial market amid global pressures and the weakening of the rupiah. One of the main steps taken by the government has been the purchase of government bonds (State Securities/SBN) in the secondary market.“The rupiah will not remain at this level for too long. Earlier, we saw improving sentiment in the bond market, didn’t we? Funds have started flowing in, and I believe more will come in the future, which will support the strengthening of the rupiah,” Purbaya said during the May 2026 edition of the APBN KiTa press conference in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara.The rupiah closed weaker on Tuesday, slipping 38 points, or 0.22 percent, to Rp17,706 per US dollar from Rp17,668 previously.Purbaya said the government had entered the bond market since last week to help ease pressure on the financial market and maintain investor confidence. According to him, the intervention has already begun to lower government bond yields.He explained that foreign investors have started returning to Indonesia’s bond market, both in the secondary and primary markets. In the secondary market, foreign inflows reached around Rp500 billion, while inflows in the primary market totaled approximately Rp1.68 trillion.Purbaya viewed the renewed inflows as an early indication that investor confidence in Indonesia’s bond market is beginning to recover.“So, our actions to maintain stability in the bond market have started restoring foreign investor confidence in our bonds. They are beginning to come back, and dollar inflows are starting to enter as they should,” he said.The state treasurer added that the government continues to closely monitor the development of foreign capital inflows into the bond market. He said he regularly coordinates with Finance Ministry Director General of Financing and Risk Management Suminto to track the movement of incoming funds.On the other hand, Purbaya assured that the government would not revise the rupiah exchange rate assumption in the 2026 state budget. The government is also maintaining its oil price assumption at US$100 per barrel.“I don’t need to change anything else. We have already implemented savings measures that we believe are sufficient for the current situation, including scenarios involving shifts in the rupiah during our simulations,” Purbaya said.Read: Finance Ministry Buys Rp2.22 Trillion in Bonds to Support RupiahClick here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
