The credit rating agency's logo appears on the fronticepiece of the S&P Global headquarters on Dec. 13, 2018, in the financial district of New York City, the United States. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)
S&P Global has maintained Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating at BBB with a stable outlook.
The United States-based rating agency announced the rating on Monday after assessing that Indonesia’s weakened fiscal and external positions were “temporary” and “could be mitigated by higher commodity prices and expenditure cuts”.
The rupiah strengthened from 18,106 per US dollar some 15 minutes before the announcement to Rp 18,057 15 minutes after. Stocks rose at the end of the trading day, with the Indonesia Stocks Exchange (IDX) Composite index closing up 1.92 percent.
S&P wrote in the statement that the weakened fiscal and external positions had been caused by higher energy prices and interest rates, a weakened currency, increased policy uncertainty and accumulated debt.
