Indonesia sees forex reserve down in March

Foreign exchange reserve (forex) of Indonesian central bank scaled down by 3.9 billion U.S. dollars in March to 111.6 billion U.S. dollars from that in February as the lender conducted intervention to keep rupiah stability, governor of the bank said here on Friday.

Rupiah had passed psychological level of 13,000 in March, event it weakened to 13,200 per U.S. dollar. On Friday, rupiah was at position of 12,910 per U.S. dollar, according to the central bank.

"There is decline (in forex reserve). The central bank had carried out intervention to stabilize rupiah. And there were also government obligation of debt payment," said Agus Martowardojo, governor of the central bank.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to raise interest rate had triggered capital outflows which give pressure on rupiah, said Martowardojo.

Fortunately, the Federal Reserve delay the policy in part contributes to strengthening of rupiah, he said.

To help ease pressure on rupiah and reducing demand on U.S. dollars, the central bank bans transaction using foreign currency.

Indonesia bans domestic transaction in foreign currency to guard rupiah with exceptions on transactions in investment in infrastructure projects and international trade, as well as international grant. Endi