Bank Indonesia (BI) is preparing to tighten rules on United States dollar purchases after the rupiah weakened to a record low of around IDR 17,443–IDR 17,446 per USD 1 on Tuesday, 5 May 2026. 

Reuters reported that BI Governor Perry Warjiyo said the central bank would lower the threshold requiring supporting documents for dollar purchases to USD 25,000 per month per person, down from the current USD 50,000 limit introduced in April 2026. The previous threshold stood at USD 100,000. 

“We will further cap this ... So dollar buying above USD 25,000 will require underlying. This is what we are strengthening domestically,” Perry said after a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto, as quoted by Reuters. 

Perry stated that the rupiah remained undervalued despite Indonesia’s economic fundamentals, which include strong growth, low inflation, credit expansion, and solid foreign exchange reserves. 

According to ANTARA and BPMI Setpres, Perry presented seven measures to stabilize the rupiah during a meeting with the Financial System Stability Committee at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta. 

The measures include intensified intervention in onshore and offshore foreign exchange markets, maintaining liquidity in the banking system, strengthening capital inflows, tighter supervision of banking and corporate foreign exchange activities, and allowing domestic lenders to participate in offshore non-deliverable forward (NDF) markets. 

“Our reserves are more than sufficient to stabilize the rupiah,” Perry said, as quoted by ANTARA. 

Bank Indonesia also plans to continue attracting foreign capital through its rupiah securities instruments while coordinating with the Finance Ministry on government bond purchases and potential buybacks. 

Perry said BI had purchased IDR 123.1 trillion, equivalent to approximately USD 7.6 billion, in government bonds from the secondary market so far this year, as quoted by BPMI Setpres. 

The central bank maintained its benchmark interest rate at 4.75% during its latest Board of Governors Meeting as part of efforts to stabilize the rupiah, according to IDN Financials. 

Perry attributed short-term pressure on the rupiah to several external and seasonal factors, including high global oil prices, rising United States interest rates, dividend repatriation, debt repayments, and foreign exchange demand linked to the Hajj season. 

“Yield US Treasury 10 tahun sekarang adalah 4.47%. Demikian juga dolar yang menguat,” Perry said, as quoted by BPMI Setpres. 

He also highlighted Indonesia’s efforts to diversify foreign exchange transactions away from reliance on the US dollar, including growing local currency transactions with China. 

“Local currency kita dengan China itu sudah sangat tinggi, sekarang sudah mulai terbentuk pasar domestik yuan sama rupiah,” Perry said, as quoted by IDN Financials. 

Analysts viewed the tighter rules as part of broader efforts to reduce speculative dollar demand. Economist Radhika Rao of DBS Bank said the policy was intended to ensure dollar purchases reflected genuine transactional needs, as quoted by indopremier.com. 

Meanwhile, Khoon Goh, Head of Asia Research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, said the tighter limits could also be linked to efforts to reduce dollar demand ahead of the Hajj season, as quoted by indopremier.com. 

Despite weakening around 4% year-to-date against the US dollar, the rupiah recovered slightly on Wednesday, 6 May 2026, strengthening 0.24% to IDR 17,383 per USD 1, according to Bloomberg data cited by IDN Financials.