Indonesia's currency and stock market are the worst performers in Asia. By June 4, the rupiah had lost nearly 8% against the dollar this year, and the stock index had fallen about 32%, with foreign investors pulling trillions of rupiah out of equities and government bonds. While the government blames global turbulence, Indonesia's neighbors weathered the same storm and are recovering. Indonesia is not. The real problem is the loss of confidence.
Investors need either better returns or lower risk, and Indonesia offers neither. On paper, rupiah assets pay well: yields are higher than US Treasuries, and Bank Indonesia raised its rate by 50 basis points in May. But foreign investors eventually cash out in dollars, and a falling rupiah erodes those returns. This fuels a vicious cycle: fear of depreciation drives selling, which pushes the rupiah lower, which confirms the fear. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy that policy reassurances cannot break.
Two government missteps deepen the crisis. First, the Bond Stabilization Fund artificially suppresses yields, creating cosmetic calm while reducing the compensation investors get for taking on rupiah risk. Second, the Prabowo administration manufactures uncertainty through abrupt, unexplained policy moves, from routing strategic commodity exports through a state vehicle to ordering ride-hailing commission caps.
The writer proposes two cures: let rupiah assets pay enough to offset currency risk (which means BI may need to tighten further and fiscal authorities should stop suppressing yields) and stop generating policy uncertainty through erratic decision-making.
π Read the insight from Riandy Laksono, Researcher, Department of Economics, CSIS Indonesia in https://t.co/OZbKz84FHK.
Today marks the 78th anniversary of the Nakba (catastrophe), during which more than 750,000 Palestinians were expelled and over 400 villages were destroyed to establish the State of Israel.