Indonesia central bank governor says will maintain presence in FX market ahead of Fed

[JAKARTA] Indonesia's central bank will maintain a presence in the foreign exchange market to guard against volatility in the rupiah ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision this week, its governor said on Monday.

The rupiah fell one percent on Monday's opening to its weakest level since Oct 7. It has regained some of its losses during trading hours and was traded at 14,060 per dollar at 0430 GMT. "We are monitoring things ahead of (the Fed) meeting and there has been a lot of pressures in the rupiah, not only because of that but also because of demand for maturing offshore loans," Governor Agus Martowardojo told reporters. "BI will always be in the market to guard against (rupiah) volatility." Martowardojo also said he expects a trade surplus in November. The statistics bureau is due to release Indonesia's trade data on Tuesday.

REUTERS