Rupiah Remain Stable Ahead Of Economic report On Tuesday

Jakarta, Oct 1 (Antara) - The rupiah currency appears to be stabilizing against the US dollar ahead of the publication of the Central Statistics Agency`s economic report on Tuesday. The rupiah`s exchange rate remained stagnant at Rp11,495 per US dollar during Tuesday`s inter-bank trade. "The rupiah appears to be stabilizing ahead of the publication of today`s economic report, which is expected to meet the market`s expectations," said Trust Securities` Head of Research Reza Priyambada. According to Priyambada, a positive report for the Indonesian economy would ease pressure on the rupiah that was worsened by a negative perspective of the US economy. "Moreover, some Asian currencies have also corrected their position, which may increase the pressure (on the rupiah)," he stated. Meanwhile, Head of Research at Valbury Asia Securities Alfiansyah predicted that year-on-year inflation in September 2013 will reach 9 percent, while the trade balance deficit in August 2013 will decrease by US$811 million from a total of US$2.309 billion dollars. "The decrease in the trade-balance deficit was predicted from the export increase in August, but imports were still high during that period," he remarked. However, Alfiansyah added, if the actual inflation and trade-balance deficit are worse than ever before, the rupiah is likely to see even more pressure. The Central Statistics Agency published its report on Tuesday afternoon, noting that a 0.35 percent deflation was recorded in September, the first such occurrence since 2001. In light of this, inflation in the calendar year from January to September 2013 was recorded at 7.57 percent, while year-on-year inflation was reported at 8.4 percent. Meanwhile, core inflation in September was recorded at 0.57 percent and year-on-year inflation at 4.72 percent.