Rupiah continues fall on weaker GDP growth

The Jakarta Post  |  Tue, 11/18/2008 4:44 PM 

The rupiah fell to 12,225 to the U.S. dollar by the end of trading on Tuesday afternoon, falling by 1.3 percent on the back of moderating domestic economic expansion in the third quarter of 2008. 

Bloomberg reported the currency as among the worst performers in Asia, after it has fallen by 8.5 percent since the beginning of the month. 

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported on Monday that in the third quarter, the country's GDP had grown 6.1 percent from one year ago -- the slowest growth the country has seen in six

quarters, since slumping commodity prices and a slow down in demand for Indonesian products has cut export revenue. 

Central bank (BI) Governor Boediono told reporters on Tuesday the bank would not allow the currency to drop dramatically. 

"We will keep it at a healthy level for the economy. We will guard the rupiah so it remains at a realistic level," Boediono said.