Indonesian Gross Domestic Product Increases 6.2 Percent, Buoying Stocks, Rupiah

Jakarta Globe, August 05, 2010

The government says the Indonesian economy grew 6.2 percent, which has boosted the Jakarta Composite Index and the Rupiah.               

Jakarta. Indonesia’s rupiah traded near a three-year high as the government said the economy expanded at the fastest pace since 2008.

Bank Indonesia may seek to prevent the currency from strengthening past 8,940 per dollar, said Iwan Ridwan Gunandar, a currency trader at Bank CIMB Niaga in Jakarta.

Gross domestic product grew 6 percent in the last quarter from a year earlier, compared with a 5.7 percent increase in the previous three months, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) put that figure at 6.2 percent in the three months to June 30 from a year earlier.

The rupiah traded at 8,962 per dollar as of 9:07 a.m. in Jakarta, compared with 8,953 yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It touched 8,905 on Aug. 3, the strongest level since June 2007. The rupiah is Asia’s second-best performing currency outside Japan this year, having risen 4.8 percent.

The Jakarta Composite Index is headed for its steepest increase in more than two months on the news.

Indonesian stocks rose 1.5 percent to 3,027.18 as of 11:23 a.m. local time, set for its biggest gain since June 3. 

Bloomberg/JG