Referring to the Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR) data from Bank Indonesia (BI), the exchange rate of the United States dollar (USD) against the Indonesian rupiah was Rp16,725 on January 2, 2026.
On February 27, 2026, a day before the US-Israeli attack on Iran, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the rupiah was Rp16,779, slightly weaker than the position at the beginning of the year.
Nearly a month after the escalation, on March 26, 2026, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the rupiah was Rp16,903. This value weakened by about 0.7% compared to the position on February 27.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the currencies of developing countries indeed began to weaken after the escalation in the Middle East.
As for the exchange rates of developing countries in the African region against the US dollar, they experienced the deepest weakening.
Before the war or the period from January 1 to February 27, 2026, the average exchange rate strengthened by 0.7%. After the war or the period from February 27 to March 26, 2026, the average weakened by 2.9%.
The same applies to the currencies of developing countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region, as well as Asia and Oceania, as shown in the graph.
In calculating the changes in the exchange rates of developing countries in the region against the US dollar, the aggregate used by UNCTAD is weighted based on the gross domestic product (GDP) of each country.
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