I wrote the article below on November 7, 2007, when nobody talked nor mentioned about this, let alone discussing it. Indonesian economy had gained its momentum since 7 years ago, where it grows convincingly when others’ fell. Indonesia, is now the world’s 16th largest economy, and member of prestigious G20, a group consisting of world’s 20 largest economies.
Rupiah, Indonesia’s currency, is one of world best performing currencies, and it is now very stable. The Indonesian government’s plan to denominate the rupiah is really just in time. Soon, you will not see many zeroes in Indonesia’s money. Rupiah is very likely to be somewhere around $1 = Rp. 8 after the denomination. Well, GNFI supports the plan and will do anything needed to help the government to materialize the plan. Enjoy the old-yet-new article.
“Go to cafe’s or food stalls in Jakarta malls, or even malls in small cities like Jogja or Solo, you’ll easily find them putting the price lists without the last three zeros. Nobody finds it confusing.
A cup of coffee is Rp 27.5 (means Rp.27,500), and for sure you will (still) have to pay Rp.27,500 with the current currency. It will really simplify our transaction, our ‘money-spelling’, and hehehe… raise our dignity.
My Singapore family always “complained” about the zeros which is “too” many and sometimes make it ‘scary’. No wonder because their currency is always high. Once I was in a rural area in Province of Albay, Central Philippines, when I mentioned my salary (in rupiah) they shouted “Haaaaaaaaaaaaa”, because they did not realize how ‘poor’ our currency is compared to others. I’ve been to some “economically-smaller” countries like the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and here we go:
US$ 1 = SI$ 12 (solomon islands dollar)
US$1 = R. 10 (Srinlankan Rupee)
US$1 = P. 49 (Philippines Peso).
Yesterday, I bought optical mouse for my laptop, and the seller said in Javanese “Regane SEKET” (The price is FIFTY), without the “thousand” which means that most people (if not all people) have already considered it as USUAL, ACCEPTABLE. It is now government’s duty to follow it up by issuing new money with new denomination, by “removing” the three zeros, and give a year tolerance to “market” this new money. A year was enough for Turkey to do exactly the same thing.”
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Rupiah, Indonesia’s currency, is one of world best performing currencies, and it is now very stable. The Indonesian government’s plan to denominate the rupiah is really just in time. Soon, you will not see many zeroes in Indonesia’s money. Rupiah is very likely to be somewhere around $1 = Rp. 8 after the denomination.
love these sentences! it really is a good news
is there any impact if we cut our currency?
i also agree on this.. and look forward to it
it’s true that we almost make no use of the word thousands on the end..
like saying “sratus duapuluh lima” even though what we meant to say is “sratus duapuluh lima ribu”..
though it prolly be a bit hard for us to mention the future currency at 10000 or under.. like to say “satu” when we usually say “seribu” or lima when we usually say “lima ribu”… and another challange is to use “cent”..
just remember:
“the biggest mistake is to hesitant and not to move forward just because we are affraid to make mistakes” ^___^
How does this (dropping zeros) improve things (in concrete terms)? Just want to understand. Thanks.
Re-denomination could only be done if the country’s economical vital sign showed that the economy and the politics are stable…and that is what our beloved country is showing for the past 5 years or so. I’m supporting the Idea all the way…. way the go Indonesia
Guys..all of you. Seems like some of our politicians and some narrow-minded government officials try to block this idea, which only proves that their understanding on this is so..low.
From our stand points as indonesians, proud indonesians, who is now living side by side with international communities, this redenomination is largely needed.
PLEASE PLEASE …. activate your voice, now, let’s act. Make this breaktrough plan materiliazed soon.
I have sent letter to KOMPAS. check it out tomorrow
@Akhyari: Tch! I always knew there should be some kind of academic and nationalism measurement tests conducted for those who want to be in the government.
So how do we ‘activate our voice’ regarding this matter if I may ask? The act that will gain significant attention from the higher ups?
It should be a very good news if it will become true someday,
As my experience,, 2 weeks ago I visited Malaysia in UPM for IASS Symposium. One of origin student seemed so exciting with bag I used – that I bought and also proudly made in Indonesia -. She said that my bag is very nice,, I answered with only smile. But she also asked me about the price,,when I said the real price in IDR currency, she shocked that it’s too much. Then I had to explain the equalization into Ringgit,,she answered that Indonesia currency is too high but less value,,
Thus by this plan,, I really hope someday it would give us convenience to convert to other currency,,
Good Luck IDR !!!
@ Diego. Simple, dude. Imagine your kid is wearing 3-colored tshirt. You find it not fashionable and a bit ugly. Then you boght him a 1-colored shirt, which eventually makes him looks nicer, elegant, and simple.
Just like that. The value of the tshirt remain the same, nothing changes.
@ iJaz. Bro, it is no small task. Really.
In 1990, i went to shouthern coast of Java, it was many hundred thousand of fishes stranded offshore. It was a place where population was (still) very low. A kid asked his dad, “Dad, how will we clean up the beach from this decaying fish?”. I will ALWAYS remember what the dad said to his kid “start picking up fishes around you, do your best, go your furthest, and let miracles do the rest”
kalopun dilaksanakan redominasi, bukankah sebenarnya itu hanya mengganti cara dalam menyebut?tapi pada intinya harga jual/beli rupiah terhadap mata uang lain tetap…ada yang bisa menjelaskan lbh detail kalo saya salah?
Wah kalo saya lebih setuju kalo mata uangnya diganti saja supaya tidak terlalu membingungkan rekan2 saya yang ada dikampung. Dan setidaknya, kalau diganti mata uangnya, kita menjadi tidak terlalu menyontek atau mengekor mata uang India(rupee), buat saja mata uang baru yang bener-bener Indonesia, cita-citanya kan… perekonomian kita mau menyusul India.
Mas Dadan, ekonomi kita lebih maju dari India, perkapita kita juga 3 kali lipatnya. Usulan anda menarik, mungkin untuk pecahan pecahan kecil, nanti namanya beda, biar mudah.
barusan kepikiran:
ntar biar nggak ada kesalahan atau kebingungan di kalangan awan nama mata uangnya dirubah jadi :Rupiah Baru” aja. ntar disingkat jadi RB.. dan kemungkinan besar dimasyarakat awam diplesetin jadi RiBu..
contoh
RB10 = sepuluh RiBu
RB5 = lima RiBu
RB100 = seratus RiBu
nilai uangnya sama, nyebutnya juga sama, tapi nulisnya beda ^____^
im sorry but i still dont understand when u say dropping the zeros.
is the rupiah is the basic unit of currency. im found it confusing.
when u say USD 1.00 = IDR 8.00 (from xe.com/ucc USD 1.00 = IDR 8,935.00)
say the US dollar, its basic unit is cent, when we say 100 US cents = 1 US dollar or 100 Philippine centavos = 1 Philippine peso
by the above analogy, 100 Indonesian rupiah will be 1 Indonesian ????
No Aaron.
If we cut the three zeros, it means that Rp 100 (old) will be Rp 10 cents (new). Rp 1.000 (old) will be Rp 1 (new). So, the smallest value will be Rp 5 cent (Rp 50 old). I hardly see any Rp 25 (old) coin nowadays.
I suppose BI will print the new money with same appearance as the old one. For example, Rp 1 (new) which is equal to Rp 1.000 (old) will have picture of Pattimura with the same green coloring. And so does the Rp 100 (new) will resemble our beloved founding fathers, Soekarno-Hatta, with reddish color.
Doing so will ensure uneducated people do not get confused.
I think rahmad’s idea is good. Dropping zero without changing the appearance.
Well, after all. People will need time to understand that they can’t spend all their money when they see the price is just IDR 10.
Or give a new name to the new currency: Rupiah Baru.
And print both values (in Rupiah and Rupiah baru) in the new bank notes (e.g.: 1 Rupiah Baru / 1000 Rupiah).
Along the way people will get accustomed to Rupiah Baru (and will stop calling it Rupiah Baru, just Rupiah), and finally we can drop entirely the Rupiah (extra zeros).
I don’t agree if we change our currency name. I like Rupiah (IDR) better than any names. I like the name and I use it everyday and the important thing is I got paid with that..:o)
the ONLY thing holding indonesia currency from breaking down is SBY. he put his cronnies and guard the rupiah like a hawk, since he knows if rupiah fails, so does his corrupt government.
he learn from suharto’s demise.
GOOD NEWS,I HOPE WE CAN SEE THE US$ 1= IDR 8 VERY SOON, LET US SUPPORT THE GOVT.OF SBY. TO OVERCOME THIS.
let’s have a bigger dream.
IDR 1 = USD 8. Why Not?
Mohon ijin copy paste,
boleh nda,akn saya smpaikan ke media saya d http://www.erepublik.com
Socially speaking…it is a very bright idea indeed to denominate…
However the true challenge lies on the IT system that run Banks…
To convert all the records and datas in the computer of Banks (which interrelated heavily) is still not an easy task, the risk of failure in doing it can cause a major disaster…i hope we can find a solution to it, because i personally support the denomination idea…why? it’s just make sense…