RUPIAH FALLS TO NEARLY RP12,000 PER US DOLLAR EARLY WEDNESDAY

Jakarta, March 4 (ANTARA) - The rupiah weakened against the US dollar in the Jakarta interbank spot market early Wednesday as investors were more confident in the greenback.
The Indonesian currency traded at Rp12,148/12,168 per US dollar, down 28 points from Rp12,120/12,130 in the market's close a day earlier.
However, Edwin Sinaga, a money market observer, believed that the rupiah slump was still within the normal limit as almost all regional currencies plunged against the US dollar.
The rupiah fell because market players preferred to keep the greenback which tended to strengthen in the world money markets, despite the financial crisis in the US, he said.
The rupiah tumbled also because of unfavorable performance of Indonesia's exports, he said.
He predicted that the rupiah would continue to fall in the afternoon and reach the level of Rp12,200 per US dollar.
However, the market's negative pressure was still controllable and the rupiah fall was still rational, he said.
Sinaga said that market players also tended to ignore the bonds issued by the government and wanted to see the government's measures to improve the economic performance.***