{"id":610966,"date":"2026-04-16T15:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/610966\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:38:13","slug":"rupiah-hits-record-low-vs-singdollar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/610966\/","title":{"rendered":"Rupiah hits record low vs Singdollar"},"content":{"rendered":"

SINGAPORE – Indonesia\u2019s rupiah hit a fresh low against the Singapore dollar on April 15, weighed down by rising oil prices linked to the Iran war<\/a> and capital outflows from the country\u2019s bond and equity markets. <\/p>\n

The currency weakness has raised concerns about a potential pullback in Indonesian demand for Singapore services, particularly healthcare, as well as softer export flows to Indonesia. <\/p>\n

The Indonesian currency was trading at around 13,500 rupiah per Singdollar on April 16. It fell 9.3 per cent against the Singdollar in 2025, and has weakened by another 4 per cent in 2026, according to Bloomberg data. <\/p>\n

S&P Global Ratings said on April 15 that Indonesia\u2019s sovereign credit profile is among the most exposed to a prolonged conflict in the Middle East. <\/p>\n

Indonesia produces oil but remains a net importer, so higher energy prices amid the fallout from the Iran war have raised import and fuel subsidy costs, weakening the archipelago nation\u2019s external trade balance and fiscal position. <\/p>\n

Global risk aversion has also triggered capital outflows from Indonesia\u2019s bond and equity markets, as investors move funds into safer assets, adding to pressure on the rupiah. <\/p>\n

Official data showed that foreign investors sold a net US$202 million (S$257 million) in Indonesian government bonds in January. The outflows also coincided with a local stock market rout that erased about US$80 billion in market value after index provider MSCI flagged concerns over ownership and trading transparency. <\/p>\n

Saxo sales trader Sean Teo said the rupiah has been on a prolonged downtrend, with tensions in the Middle East adding to the pressure. <\/p>\n

He noted that disruptions to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have raised energy prices,<\/a> prompting capital to flow into the US dollar and away from riskier currencies such as the rupiah. <\/p>\n

\u201cRating agency Moody\u2019s has revised Indonesia\u2019s outlook to \u2018negative\u2019, citing political uncertainty and weakening governance, while MSCI halted any positive adjustments to Indonesian securities, which led to the US$80 billion sell-off from the Indonesian markets in January,\u201d said Mr Teo. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo capital may instead flow to other markets in the region, such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Analysts expect some recovery in the rupiah if tensions in the Iran war ease, but noted that a weaker rupiah and strong Singdollar, if prolonged, could weigh on Singapore\u2019s medical tourism sector and trade with Indonesia. <\/p>\n

Singapore\u2019s currency is expected to appreciate after its central bank on April 14 tightened its monetary policy stance to curb inflation, allowing for a stronger Singdollar to dampen import costs. <\/p>\n

OCBC Bank foreign exchange strategist Christopher Wong\u00a0said the impact of a weaker rupiah on Singapore\u2019s economy is likely to be \u201cuneven\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn healthcare, demand for specialist and higher-acuity treatment should remain relatively resilient, as such services tend to be less price-sensitive,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBy contrast, elective procedures and related discretionary spending may be more vulnerable, as a softer rupiah makes treatment and travel to Singapore more expensive for Indonesian patients.\u201d <\/p>\n

For now, analysts are still expecting the rupiah to gradually recover. <\/p>\n

DBS Group Research foreign exchange and credit strategist Chang Wei Liang said the bank is expecting a recovery \u201cwith the rupiah now looking undervalued, and with Indonesia also embarking on market reforms to soothe investor concerns\u201d. <\/p>\n

UOB senior foreign exchange strategist Peter Chia said Bank Indonesia is expected to maintain its currency stabilisation measures, which should help to prevent further downside in the rupiah. <\/p>\n

Indonesia\u2019s central bank has been intervening in the foreign exchange market to support the rupiah by drawing on the country\u2019s foreign reserves, which fell US$3.7 billion to US$148.2 billion in March. It has also tightened monetary policy to manage volatility. <\/p>\n

\u201cAssuming the Iran conflict continues to de-escalate, an improving global risk environment, combined with a substantially weaker rupiah, could present attractive entry points for foreign bond investors,\u201d said Mr Chia. <\/p>\n

He added that the rupiah\u2019s performance will depend largely on whether investors keep putting money into Indonesian bonds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SINGAPORE – Indonesia\u2019s rupiah hit a fresh low against the Singapore dollar on April 15, weighed down by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":["post-610966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}