Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian rupiah strengthened against the US dollar in the Jakarta interbank market on Monday evening on the back of data showing a hike in the country's foreign exchange reserves in August this year.
The rupiah closed 10 points higher, or up 0.07 percent, at Rp14,740 against Rp14,750 per dollar earlier.
"One of the factors causing the rupiah's appreciation is the release of the US manpower data, which indicates slower growth of jobs in August (2020),” PT TRFX Garuda Berjangka director Ibrahim Assuaibi said.
A report from the US Department of Labor on Friday showed slower growth in jobs and rising loss of permanent jobs due to depleting government funding, raising concerns over the continuation of the US economic recovery.
However, the data showed that the unemployment rate fell to 8.4 percent from 10.2 percent in July, lower than economists' forecast of 9.8 percent. Meanwhile, jobs in the manufacturing and construction (non-farm payrolls) sectors rose 1.73 million in July and 1.37 million in August, 2020.
On the domestic front, data showed Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves rose to US$137 billion in August compared to US$135.1 billion the month before.
The foreign exchange reserves are equivalent to 9.4 months of imports or 9 months of imports and government foreign debt repayments, and are above the international adequacy standard of three months of imports.
According to the Bank Indonesia mid-rate, the rupiah strengthened to Rp14,754 against the greenback on Monday compared to Rp14,792 earlier.
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