BI Urges Exporters To Sell Rorex Reserves

Jakarta (Antara Megapolitan) - Bank Indonesia (BI) has urged exporters to release or sell their foreign exchange (forex), BI Governor Agus Martowardojo said.

"Selling forex will balance the rupiah exchange rate. I think this is the right time for exporters," Agus Martowardojo said on Monday.

According to Martowardojo, export and import cannot be separated from global purposes.

"Hence, forex should be released in efforts to maintain the stability of the rupiah. If the participants of the global capital market sell their share, it will affect Indonesia," he remarked.

He pointed out that BI had intervened in the securities and forex market to stabilize the rupiah.

Earlier, Bank Indonesia said it was applying three short term strategies to create rupiah stability, amidst the protracted global crisis.

"We will optimize monetary operations, both in the rupiah and forex markets," the Head of the Economic and Monetary policy department at the central bank, Juda Agung, said on Thursday.

The three strategies would be strengthening the management of rupiah liquidity in the financial market, maintaining forex supply and demand and forex reserves.

Operationally, the three strategies would be applied through a number of policies,  including intervention in the forex market to control rupiah volatility and purchasing state securities in the secondary market by observing market liquidity;

"We will strengthen rupiah liquidity management through an open market operation to create longer liquidity," Agung said.

Rupiah liquidity management will be carried out by changing the mechanism of auction, he said.

The central bank will also change the mechanism of auction for the BI deposit certificate (SDBI) from variable rate tender to fixed rate tender and will issue a six-month SDBI.

The central bank will also issue a nine-month and 12-month Bank Indonesia Certificate (SBI) again with a fixed rate tender.

The frequency of auctions for the Foreign Exchange (FX) Swap will be changed from twice a week to once a week, Agung revealed.

The mechanism of auction for term deposits for forex will be changed from variable rate tender to fixed rate tender, and the term will be lengthened to three months, he added.

The central bank also plans to lower the forex purchase limit from US$100,000 at present to US$25,000 per client a month.

"We will coordinate with the government and central banks of other countries to strengthen our forex reserves," he said.  

Penerjemah: A. Abdussalam.