The plunging Indonesian rupiah is raising alarm among consumers and the government. (Reuters: Willy Kurniawan, File photo)<\/p>\n
Indonesia's currency has fallen to historic lows against the US dollar, causing damage "in most of the economy", analysts say.<\/p>\n
Some street food sellers have raised their prices to cover rising production costs, while others say they're seeing less foot traffic in the markets.<\/p>\n
An economist says government policies are contributing to the decline but the government says it is "ensuring that inflation remains within a controlled range".<\/p>\n
Over the past six months, the world has been glued to charts, gripped by the high price of oil.<\/p>\n
But in Indonesia, there's another chart that's been causing fear and anxiety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Indonesia's currency, the rupiah, has fallen to historic lows against the US dollar.<\/p>\n
From September 2024, it went from about 15,000 rupiah per $US1, passing a psychological threshold of 17,000 rupiah in April this year.<\/p>\n
It worsened through June to more than 18,000, and has stubbornly remained around that low ever since.<\/p>\n
The rate is worse than it was during the 1998 Asian financial crisis, which sparked such severe unrest and protests that it led to the downfall of Indonesia's former authoritarian president Suharto.<\/p>\n
And despite the war in the Middle East causing pain across Asia, some Indonesian economists say it is mostly domestic factors that have made the rupiah one of the worst-performing currencies in the region.<\/p>\n
"The damage in most of the economy is quite severe," economist Dipo Satria Ramli said.<\/p>\n
Street food sellers have had to raise their prices to deal with rising production costs. (ABC News: Tim Swanston)<\/p>\n
The nation's central bank, Bank Indonesia, has issued four rate rises in quick succession to try and wrangle the slide in the rupiah.<\/p>\n
But further fears have been raised after the sudden resignation of the bank's governor, well before the end of his second term.<\/p>\n