Rupiah Weakens More Than 6% Against Yen

The Indonesian Rupiah led the weakening of Asian currencies against the Japanese Yen throughout 2018. Bloomberg data recorded the Rupiah exchange rate against the Japanese Yen at the close of trading on Friday (April 20th) at 129.11/Japanese Yen, meaning it had depreciated by 6.75% year-to-date (YTD). This weakening was the deepest compared to other currencies.

Other Asian currencies that weakened against the Yen were the South Korean Won and the Chinese Yuan. Meanwhile, the Asian currency that managed to record an appreciation against the Yen was the Philippine Peso, appreciating 9.35% this year. This increase was the highest compared to other regional currencies. Other currencies that strengthened against the Yen were the Indian Rupee by 8.25% and the Hong Kong Dollar by 4.95% (YTD).

Amid global uncertainty due to the potential for further interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve (The Fed) and the positive Japanese economy, the Yen is currently a safe haven asset for global fund managers. This triggered Yen repatriation, enabling the Japanese currency to strengthen by more than 4% against the US dollar this year.