Indonesia minister says rupiah depreciation 'illogical' after currency hits 20-year low

[JAKARTA] Indonesia's coordinating minister for economic affairs on Tuesday called the rupiah's depreciation since Friday "illogical" and said it did not reflect the state of the economy.

"There were things that pushed the depreciation further, that we think makes it illogical. We're looking to find out why beside Argentina's problem," Darmin Nasution, a former central bank governor, said meeting President Joko Widodo, cabinet ministers and the Bank Indonesia chief.

Mr Nasution told reporters the government had spotted speculative trading of the rupiah and also said there had been technical problems with dollar-rupiah quotations last week.

The rupiah hit its weakest in three years on Friday and this week has reached its lowest point in 20 years. Tuesday's quote of 14,897 per US dollar was 1.42 per cent below the Aug 30 closing.

REUTERS