Economy, Currency and Banking

The rupiah is the official monetary unit of Indonesia (8,422 rupiah equal U.S.$1; 2000 average). The country’s central bank is Bank Indonesia in Jakarta. Until the late 1980s banking was dominated by 5 large, state-owned banks, 70 private banks, and a development bank. A small number of foreign-owned banks were confined to Jakarta. After a series of policy changes in the 1980s and a new banking law in 1992, banking and finance were substantially deregulated and the number of banks and bank branches grew. As a result of these and other reforms, the Jakarta Stock Exchange grew in importance. A second stock exchange operates in Surabaya.