The rupiah exchange rate opened up 0.27% to the level of Rp 14,585 per US dollar (US) on the spot market this morning, Friday (7/17). However, shortly after opening, the rupiah weakened 0.22% to the level of Rp 14,657 per US dollar.

Along with the rupiah, the majority of Asian currencies were recorded to weaken this morning. Citing Bloomberg, the South Korean won was down 0.06%, Indian rupee 0.07%, Chinese yuan 0.18%, Malaysian ringgit 0.06%, and Thai baht 0.1%, against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen strengthened 0.03%, the Singapore dollar and the Philippine peso each gained 0.01%, and the Taiwan dollar gained 0.02%. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong dollar did not move significantly against the US dollar.

"The government's concern about the increase in cases of the coronavirus or COVID-19 is a major technical factor that is preventing the rupiah from rising," Binaartha Sekuritas analyst Muhammad Nafan Aji told. Launching the Worldometers page, the global positive case of Covid-19 has so far surpassed 14 million, with a total of 592,677 deaths.

The US is in first place with a total of positive cases of Covid-19 reaching 3.7 million people, followed by Brazil as many as 2.01 million people. The third rank is occupied by India with the number of positive cases of Covid-19 reaching 1 million people. Followed by Russia and Peru, with 752,797 positive cases and 341,586 people, respectively.

Increased Cases of COVID-19 Cause Rupiah Weakens

Indonesia is now ranked 26th, with a total of 81,668 cases, one level below China which is the origin of the coronavirus. Total deaths from this deadly virus in the country have reached 3,873 people.

Also, Nafan said the improved US retail sales data in June could also encourage the weakening of the rupiah. The US Department of Commerce noted June 2020 retail sales increased 7.5% from the previous month after a revised 18.2% increase in May 2020.

This achievement was higher than the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists reaching 5% in June. With this increase, retail sales data has now recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Nafan also estimates that Garuda's currency will be corrected again in a limited manner today, with a range of movements in the range of Rp 14,490-14,780 per US dollar.

Chief Economist of PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) Ryan Kiryanto assesses that negative sentiment will still overshadow the rupiah exchange rate today. Rupiah sentiment is likely to come from an increase in positive cases of corona in the country, whereas in other countries it has been sloping. "But hopefully this will be temporary, only in the short term," Ryan told Katadata.co.id, Thursday (7/16).

Rupiah Weakens, Corona New Cases Increase Every Day

In fact, with this sentiment, according to him, the rupiah exchange rate has the potential to return to the level of Rp 15 thousand. Thus, Ryan estimates that in the future the rupiah exchange rate will still move volatile or up and down.

To note, the number of Indonesian corona cases reported by the government on Wednesday (7/15) increased by 1,522 to 80,094 people. This new patient figure was obtained from the examination of 24,871 specimens by a network of laboratories in Indonesia.

Central Java Province contributed the newest cases, namely 261 people. DKI Jakarta is in second place with 260 additional patients. In third place is East Java, which reported an increase of 165 cases. Next is South Sulawesi with the addition of 158 new cases of COVID-19 infection.

"South Kalimantan has 109 cases," said a national spokesman for Corona Achmad Yurianto's handling at the BNPB Building, Jakarta, yesterday. He explained this picture shows that corona transmission still occurs in the community. Therefore, residents are asked to continue to pay attention and comply with health protocols, especially in the work environment.