The rupiah exchange rate reached its weakest point at the close of trading on Tuesday (12/5/2026). According to Refinitiv data, the Indonesian currency weakened by 0.49% to Rp17,490 per US dollar, marking its lowest closing level in recent history. In response to the situation, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stated that the Ministry of Finance would begin assisting Bank Indonesia in handling pressure on the rupiah starting Wednesday (13/5/2026).

“We will start helping tomorrow,” Purbaya said at his office while responding to the rupiah’s depreciation, which had briefly touched Rp17,500 per US dollar on Tuesday (12/5/2026).

Purbaya explained that the government would utilize the Bond Stabilization Fund (BSF) mechanism. He made the statement after holding an impromptu meeting with several Finance Ministry officials at the lobby of the Djuanda I Building at the ministry’s headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday (12/5/2026).

Officials attending the meeting included Finance Ministry Secretary General Robert Leonard Marbun, Director General of Financing and Risk Management Suminto, Director General of Treasury Astera Primanto Bhakti, and Acting Director General of Economic and Fiscal Stability Ferry Ardiyanto.

However, Purbaya declined to reveal the detailed strategy the government would implement through the BSF to support Bank Indonesia in managing pressure on the rupiah. As previously reported, the currency had briefly hit its weakest level in history at Rp17,500 per US dollar that day.

“The strategy is still confidential. If we reveal it, our opponents will know,” he stressed.

Even so, he confirmed that the government would use the BSF scheme to address pressure on the rupiah through intervention in the bond market to maintain competitive yield levels.

The effort to maintain yields would involve using BSF funds to purchase government bonds or securities sold off by foreign investors. According to him, this policy would not require coordination with Bank Indonesia or the Financial Services Authority (OJK) through the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), and in its initial phase would rely on state cash reserves.

“We will try to see whether we can help stabilize the bond market and gradually the foreign exchange market as well,” Purbaya explained.

Purbaya also stated that he was prepared to appear before leaders of the House of Representatives (DPR) regarding the weakening rupiah.

This followed comments from DPR Speaker Puan Maharani concerning the rupiah’s depreciation to Rp17,500 per US dollar. The DPR said it would request explanations from both Bank Indonesia and the government regarding the currency’s condition.

Although ready to comply, Purbaya emphasized that exchange rate matters fall under the responsibility of the central bank. He also noted that he had not yet received an official invitation from the DPR.

“Not yet, but the rupiah is the central bank’s responsibility, not the Finance Ministry’s. If we are summoned, of course we are ready,” Purbaya said at the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday (12/5/2026).

“I still don’t know because there has been no invitation yet. But I am ready. In this matter I am passive, and it is the central bank that should explain the reasons,” Purbaya emphasized.