Indonesian Rupiah trades at 2-month highs ahead of Indonesian elections

Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) is trading at a two-month high of 14,055 a day ahead of the Indonesian general elections.

The currency has appreciated by 1.95 percent in the last 1.5 months and may extend gains further in the next 24 hours as pollsters are expecting the incumbent Joko Widodo to come out victorious. Moreover, a win by the opposition led by the former army general Prabowo Subianto is seen introducing some economic uncertainty, given their lack of experience in governing.

That said, the broad thrust of economic policies between the two camps is not markedly different, according to ANZ analysts.

Further, any uptick in the IDR on incumbent victory could be short-lived as Indonesian exports continue to underperform its imports.        

The official data released yesterday showed the outbound shipments fell 10 percent year on year to $14.09bn in March, the fifth consecutive monthly decline, while imports declined more than expected, by 6.8 percent to $13.49bn compared to analyst expectations of a 3.8 percent drop.

USD/IDR Technical Levels