As you may know, from a pre-crisis level of around Rp 2,430 per $ in early July 1997, the rupiah weakened to reach a low of just under Rp 17,000 in June 1998. This represents a loss of about 85% of the rupiah’s value at its worst point. No economy could survive such a hard blow without serious harmful repercussions.
One of our first priorities has therefore been to strengthen and stabilize the value of the rupiah. As a result, the sharp volatility of the rupiah during early 1998 gradually waned due to actions deterring speculative attacks.