Indonesia C.bank Raises Key Rate 25 Basis Points To Defend Rupiah

JAKARTA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Indonesia's central bank on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate for the fourth time since mid-May to defend the rupiah, which has again come under pressure, partly due to Turkey's financial crisis.
Bank Indonesia (BI) raised its 7-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 percent, as expected by 6 of 19 economists in a Reuters poll. Its deposit and lending facility rates were moved by the same amount, to 5.00 percent and 6.25 percent, respectively.

The rupiah lost about 1 percent of its value against the dollar on Monday amid a wide emerging market sell-off. The currency has hit its weakest point in nearly three years several times this week. After Wednesday's announcement, the rupiah strengthened to around 14,585 per dollar.
Between mid-May and the end of June, momcheap.bookmark.com BI hiked interest rates three times totalling 100 basis points, including at an off-cycle meeting. It kept rates steady at its July meeting. BI has also spent billions of dollars of foreign exchange reserves to defend the rupiah.

The central bank and the government now are seeking ways to bolster reserves and reduce imports. Announcement date Rate 15-Aug-2018 5.50 19-Jul-2018 5.25 29-Jun-2018 5.25 30-May-2018 4.75 17-May-2018 4.50 19-Apr-2018 4.25 22-Mar-2018 4.25 15-Feb-2018 4.25 18-Jan-2018 4.25 14-Dec-2017 4.25 16-Nov-2017 4.25 19-Oct-2017 4.25 22-Sep-2017 4.25 (Reporting by Nilufar Rizki, Maikel Jefriando, Tabita Diela, Fransiska Nangoy and Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Ed Davies and Richard Borsuk)