he Indonesian rupiah is forecast to continue its downward spiral in the Jakarta interbank transactions on Thursday, impacted by heavy external sentiment.

On Thursdays opening, the rupiah weakened by 13 points, or 0.1 percent, from Rp14,152 to Rp14,165 per US dollar.

Todays rupiah transaction is projected to continue to fall over the relatively yet heavy external sentiment, PT Garuda Berjangka Director Ibrahim Assuaibi stated here on Thursday.

Negative sentiment in global markets, including Indonesia, arose from the US Congress impeachment of President Donald Trump, among other factors.

Trump allegedly sought Ukraines help for defaming former vice president Joe Biden, his opponent in the next election.

Biden is, until now, his strongest opponent of all the other Democrat candidates for the 2020 presidential election.

Another external threat arose from Europe that had been overshadowed by potential recession following negative growth in the past two quarters in the same year.

Hence, Assuaibi has forecast the rupiah to hover in the range of Rp14,105 to Rp14,170 per US dollar.

According to the Bank Indonesia mid-rate, the rupiah stood at Rp14,162, from Rp14,134 per US dollar earlier on Thursday.

Source : Antaranews.com

Oct 18, 2019