RUPIAH FALLS 200 POINTS EARLY TUESDAY

Jakarta, Jan. 13 (ANTARA) - The rupiah continued to nosedive in the Jakarta interbank spot market on Tuesday morning, as market players bought the US dollars although the greenback weakened in the global market.

The Indonesian currency traded at Rp11,225/Rp11,240 per US dollar, down 200 points from Rp11,025/Rp11,100 at the market's close a day earlier.

President Director of PT Financorpindo Nusa Edwin Sinaga said here on Tuesday that the slump in the local currency since early this week was still considered normal, after it stayed at the level of Rp10,900/Rp11,000 per US dollar.

"We believe that it happened just as a correction, and in the future the rupiah will strengthen again," he said.

It would be just a matter of time for the local currency to advance again, in relation with the government's plan to issue state debentures to the public, he said.

However, he said that the fall of the greenback against yen and euro should have help the rupiah strengthen. But, in fact it was on the contrary, so what had happened in the money market, he said.

"I am still studying the market's attitude. What is happening in the market that makes the rupiah to nosedive," he said.