TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Bank Indonesia (BI) Representative Office for Bali Province stated that transactions in Indonesia's tourism sector must use the rupiah because it is not exempt from international trade transactions.
"The rupiah is legal tender in the territory of the Republic of Indonesia," said Deputy Head of the Bank Indonesia Representative Office for Bali Province, Ronald Dungdung Parluhutan, in Denpasar on Friday, as quoted by ANTARA.
He continued, another consideration is using the rupiah in every domestic transaction, which supports achieving rupiah exchange rate stability and realizing rupiah sovereignty in Indonesia.
According to Bank Indonesia Regulation (PBI) Number 17/3/2015, international trade transactions are exempt from the obligation to use the Indonesian rupiah currency. This exception gives exporters the flexibility to list prices and use foreign currencies in international contracts. However, the regulation does not include the tourism sector as an exception.
For this reason, the Chairperson of the Indonesian Travel Agency (Asita) Bali, Putu Winastra, hopes that space will be provided to list tour package prices in foreign currencies, including the US dollar.
Meanwhile, payments are still made in Rupiah according to the exchange rate applicable at the time of the transaction.
He determined that the tourism sector and its stakeholders contributed to strengthening the value of the rupiah by "exporting" tourism services.
However, he continued, when the US dollar strengthens and tourism packages are sold in rupiah, this puts a large burden on the company's operations because the prices of necessities in the tourism sector have increased.
Meanwhile, his party faces a dilemma: listing prices in US dollars or foreign currencies on the official website could be discovered by law enforcement and lead to legal action.
As a popular tourist destination, Bali attracts international visitors, generating foreign exchange similar to that from exports. Meanwhile, increasing exports is one way to strengthen the rupiah domestically.
Over the past few weeks, the rupiah has weakened, even breaking through the psychological level of more than Rp18,000 per US dollar.
Bank Indonesia then took drastic steps, including raising the benchmark interest rate (BI Rate). In May 2026, for example, BI raised the rate by 50 basis points, bringing it to 5.25 percent. Then it rose again by 25 basis points to 5.50 percent on Tuesday, June 9, and is currently up to 5.75 percent. The rupiah then strengthened, moving away from the Rp18,000-per-US-dollar mark.
However, the rupiah remains volatile. On Friday morning, the exchange rate weakened by 51 points, or 0.29 percent, to Rp17,845 per US dollar, compared to the previous close of Rp17,794 per US dollar.
Read: Rupiah Falls to Rp17,845 per US Dollar at Friday's Open
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