BI Plans to Lower Unbacked Forex Purchases Next Month

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Bank Indonesia (BI) will implement new regulations on unbacked foreign exchange purchases starting June 1, 2026. The threshold, previously set at USD 50,000 per person per month, will be reduced to USD 25,000.

In April, BI had already lowered the limit from USD 100,000 to USD 50,000. Under the new rule, purchases exceeding USD 25,000 must be supported by documentation to ensure transactions reflect genuine economic activity rather than speculation.

“We are not restricting the purchase of U.S. dollars for economic purposes. However, we are restricting it for speculative activities,” said Ruth A. Cussoy Intama, Director of BI’s Financial Market Deepening Department, during a BI event in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Saturday, May 23.

Ruth noted that the foreign exchange purchase limit is not new, having been applied in 2015 during the taper tantrum, as well as in 2022 and 2024.

The taper tantrum refers to global financial market turmoil triggered by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to scale back quantitative easing in mid‑2013, which continued to affect emerging markets such as Indonesia into 2015.

Beyond curbing speculation, BI’s rules aim to stabilize the rupiah amid current financial market volatility. Ruth said the April threshold proved effective, with daily foreign exchange transactions falling from USD 78 million in the first quarter of 2026 to USD 62 million.

“From April to May, foreign exchange transactions dropped again to USD 57 million. With the new USD 25,000 limit on unbacked purchases, transactions are expected to decline further,” Ruth concluded. (Gusti Panji)