Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian currency rupiah gained in value closing at the level of 13,103 per U.S. dollar in an inter bank transaction on Friday from earlier level of 13,107, analysts said .

"Amid minimum positive sentiment both internally and externally, rupiah appreciation was relatively limited," chief researcher of NH Korindo Securities Indonesia Reza Priyambada said.

Reza said Bank Indonesia, which decided to maintain its benchmark interest rate (BI rate) at 6.5 percent on Thursday was considered positive by some investors that the decision of the monetary authority indicated that it saw domestic economy as stable.

Meanwhile, the worlds crude oil prices varied, he said, adding the price of WTI crude fell 0.16 percent to US$44.68 per barrel, and Brent rose 0.13 percent to US$46.26 per barr4el.

Mandiri Sekuritas economist Leo Rinaldy said that the decision of the central bank in maintaining the BI rate showed that its earlier monetary policy was still enough to sustain economic growth.

"However, we still stand on our position that more monetary relaxation is still needed as the risk of setback is still there. There is still risk in the second half of the year," he said. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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