BPK Awaiting DPR's Request To Audit BI

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The State Audit Board (BPK) is awaiting an official request from the House of Representatives (DPR) to audit Bank Indonesia (BI) in connection with the rupiah's weakening exchange rate against the U.S. dollar.

BPK Chief Harry Azhar Azis said on Wednesday he would hold a meeting with the other eight BPK members soon after receiving an official request from the DPR to audit BI.

"The decision (on whether to audit BI or not) will depend on the results of the meeting," he said.

Under Article 59 of the 1999 Law on Bank Indonesia, BPK can conduct a special audit of BI at the request of the DPR, if needed.

The article stipulates that the audit is intended to examine more closely any activity carried out by BI while managing its finance and realizing its budget.

On August 24, DPR Chairman Setya Novanto had asked BPK to conduct an audit of BI with a certain purpose in response to the rupiah's continued depreciation against the dollar.

Novanto said the audit was necessary to understand the current monetary situation and the trigger for the rupiah's declining exchange rate.

He expressed hope that BPK would conduct the audit soon and provide various inputs to deal with the current situation.

"Hopefully, BPK will give inputs on the situation of stocks to see whether their status is stable or declining," he said.

Earlier, Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro had said pressure on the rupiah's exchange rate was exerted by global factors, including China's decision to devalue its Yuan, a war on global oil prices and the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to adjust its benchmark rate in September.

Since early this week, the rupiah has hovered at Rp14,000 per U.S. dollar, falling far from an exchange rate assumption of Rp12,000 per dollar. (WDY)