Indonesia sees pressure on rupiah continuing as US delays rate hike

[JAKARTA] Indonesia's rupiah will remain under pressures as the US Federal Reserve delays a plan to raise interest rates, the country's chief economics minister said on Friday. "It is a dilemma for us and also other countries. But if there's no hike like this, pressures and speculation (on the rupiah) will continue," Darmin Nasution, Indonesia's coordinating minister of economics, told Reuters.

The rupiah weakened 0.07 per cent to 14,465 per dollar from Thursday's closing. It touched a fresh 17-year low of 14,470 earlier on Friday.

The Fed kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday in a nod to concerns about a weak world economy although it left open the possibility of a modest policy tightening later this year.

REUTERS