RUPIAH TUMBLES 20 POINT AGAINST US DOLLAR EARLY FRIDAY

Jakarta, March 6 (ANTARA) - The rupiah tumbled 20 points against the US dollar in the Jakarta interbank spot market here on Friday morning, as market players again purchased the greenback and released the local currency.

The local currency traded at Rp12,140/12,165 per US dollar, down 20 points from RP12,120/12,130 in the market's close a day earlier.
Market players released the Indonesian currency and bought the US dollars because they were still worried over the worsening global economic crisis, Farial Anwar, a money market observer, said here on Friday.
It would be hard for the rupiah to stay at the level of below Rp12,000 per US dollar because the demand for the US greenback was high, he said.
The rupiah plunged despite a report on a loan from the World Bank to increase Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves which had decreased from US$60 billion to US$51 billion, he said.
The Indonesian currency was under market pressure although the government had made various efforts to improve the country's economy by among other things issuing bonds overseas and inside the country, he said.
He believed that the rupiah would continue to weaken despite the government's efforts.