Indonesian Rupiah at its Weakest since 1998 Crisis

The rapid spread of the Coronavirus which has heightened fears of a global recession, has prompted investors globally to exit emerging markets and park their funds in safe haven assets.

In this backdrop, the Indonesian Rupiah depreciated 0.3 percent to IDR 15,222 per USD on Wednesday, 18th March 2020, marking a new low for the currency since the crisis in 1998. The Indonesian Rupiah has gone from being Asia’s best-performing currency to Asia’s worst-performing currency, within a span of around two months.

As reported in Bloomberg, foreign investors have dumped over USD 4 billion from rupiah bonds during the year, which is likely to result in the largest quarterly outflow experienced by...