What the central bank said
Bank Indonesia (BI) is strengthening the instruments it uses to steady the rupiah in the market. The stated aim is to cushion the domestic economy from high volatility abroad.
Governor Destry Damayanti spoke to reporters on Monday 19 October 2026 after a restricted economic cabinet session held within the Jakarta presidential palace grounds. In her words, the bank will always remain in the market.
President Prabowo Subianto told the central bank to keep working and to track how effective the prepared stabilisation tools are.
The tools in use
Interventions run in the spot market and through NDF. An NDF is a currency forward contract settled in cash, with no physical delivery of the currency.
In addition, the bank offers incentives that cover part of the cost of hedging. They have been in place since the end of June this year.
Damayanti said the incentives and interventions have had a positive effect on how domestic financial markets move. They drew liquidity in a period of uncertainty about global interest rates.
Inflows and inflation
By Damayanti's estimate, the steps attracted capital through swap instruments and domestic NDF (DNDF) totalling roughly 8 to 8.5 billion US dollars.
Defending the currency remains a top priority, yet BI also watches inflation as a mirror of the national economy. Core inflation in September stayed contained at 2.8 percent. Volatile food inflation reached 5 percent.
To ease pressure on food prices, BI is working more closely with the Agriculture Ministry. The aim is to bring food inflation back inside the bank's range of 2.5 percent with a one point margin either way.
External pressures
Damayanti pointed to high global volatility sustained by a higher-for-longer rate environment, meaning elevated interest rates in advanced economies. Inflation there still sits above target levels.
She added that the chance of a US Federal Reserve rate hike this October is expected to be lower. The situation is still a challenge, and the bank keeps monitoring it to protect the rupiah.
Among ANTARA's related stories is a headline saying BI vowed to intervene when the rupiah reached 18,000 per US dollar. The text of this report does not discuss that figure.
What it means for the property market
The rupiah rate affects prices of imported materials, the cost of dollar loans and the maths of foreign buyers who pay in dollars or euros and take on obligations in rupiah. The source does not say this directly, and it is general context.
The next signals named in the source are food inflation and the Fed's stance. Both will shape BI's decisions.