JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Thursday said the rupiah exchange rate was in a good condition compared to other currencies and estimated the country’s economy could grow by 5.4% to 6% in the third quarter.

The rupiah on Wednesday dropped to its weakest level against the dollar since April 2020 amid global market turmoil.

Global economic conditions are highly uncertain, the president said, but with roughly 7% depreciation so far this year, the rupiah is faring better compared to its Asian peers.

He attributed the recent weakness in foreign exchange to the market turmoil caused by Britain’s fiscal policy announcements last week.

Speaking at an economic event, Jokowi, as the president is known, said there is no certainty of when the war in Ukraine is going to end and the Indonesian government will work on maintaining stability and growth.

“Our nation will require endurance,” he said, adding that he had asked Finance Minister Sri Mulyani to be prudent with fiscal spending. “Many international analysts are expecting that next year will be worse, but things will be different if we prepare ammunition,” he said.

Indonesia central bank guarding against excessive rupiah falls

Meanwhile, Jokowi said he remains confident that Indonesian economic growth will be supported by development of downstream industries for its minerals sector, and reiterated that after banning exports of raw nickel ore, Indonesia would implement similar policies for other materials such as tin and bauxite.

Indonesia’s economy grew by 5.44% in the second quarter.

The rupiah strengthened by 0.16% as of 0318 GMT on Thursday after dropping 0.93% a day earlier.