{
  "id": 1433355,
  "title": "Indonesian Rupiah strengthens amid Prabowo's growth target, weaker US Dollar",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/indonesian-rupiah-strengthens-amid-prabowos-growth-target-weaker-us",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-17T05:45:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "FXStreet",
    "slug": "fxstreet",
    "url": "https://www.fxstreet.com/news/indonesian-rupiah-strengthens-amid-prabowos-growth-target-weaker-us-dollar-202608170545"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Indonesian Rupiah strengthened as President Prabowo's optimistic Independence Day address to parliament indicated a projected GDP growth of 6% by next year. This growth was attributed to ongoing investments realizing and steady job creation, which provided support to the Rupiah amidst the holiday period. The Indonesian currency also benefited from the weaker US Dollar, which depreciated due to lower-than-expected US economic data, such as July Retail Sales declining 0.6% month-over-month and missing the market consensus of 0.1% growth. Additionally, annual Retail Sales grew by 5.0% in July, down from the 6.8% expansion in the previous month. This decline in the US Dollar was due to softened expectations for Federal Reserve rate hikes, as indicated by the CME FedWatch tool, which now predicts only a 30.1% probability of a rate hike next month, compared to the previous estimate of 52.2%. Traders have scaled back their expectations for Fed rate hikes following a series of softer economic reports, including CPI, PPI, and Retail Sales data. The US Dollar's value is primarily influenced by monetary policy decisions made by the Federal Reserve, which aims to maintain price stability and promote full employment. The Fed adjusts interest rates as a primary tool to achieve these goals. When inflation is high, the Fed raises interest rates, strengthening the USD, while lower inflation or high unemployment rates may lead to rate cuts, weakening the Greenback. In extreme cases, the Fed may implement quantitative easing (QE) or quantitative tightening (QT) to manage the financial system when credit is scarce. During the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, QE was the Fed's preferred tool to combat the credit crunch, involving the printing of more dollars and buying US government bonds from financial institutions to stimulate lending. However, QT, which reduces the flow of credit, typically results in a weaker US Dollar. Traders have shown a preference for carry trades due to lower Fed rate hike expectations, supported by a steeper US yield curve and low inflation.",
  "summary": "USD/IDR extends its losses for the second successive day, trading around 17,820 during the Asian hours on Monday. The pair may face thin trading conditions as trading volumes remain subdued amid Indonesia’s Independence Day holiday.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}