The entrance to the Bank Indonesia headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia. - Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg
JAKARTA: Indonesia's central bank held its main interest rates steady at a review on Wednesday, as expected by a narrow majority of analysts, keeping its focus on stabilising the rupiah currency which had earlier hit a four-month low against the dollar.
Bank Indonesia (BI) held the benchmark rate at 6.00%, as predicted by 17 of 31 economists polled by Reuters. The other 14 had expected a 25 basis-point rate cut.
The central bank also left the overnight deposit facility and lending facility rates steady at 5.25% and 6.75%.
"The focus of monetary policy is directed towards strengthening the rupiah's stability against the impact of an increasingly uncertain global economy," Governor Perry Warjiyo told a press conference.
BI cut rates by 25 bps in September, just ahead of the start of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate-cutting cycle, but has since held steady on concerns about the rupiah and uncertainty around the policies of the incoming U.S. government.
The rupiah has come under pressure since October as the U.S. dollar strengthened. It has fallen to four-month lows this week, hitting a low of 16,120 a dollar earlier on Wednesday.
Annual economic growth was 4.95% in the third quarter, the slowest rate in a year. - Reuters
