REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANDUNG -- Bank Indonesia (BI/the central bank) said it was optimistic that the rupiah would strengthen after the inflation and imports were taken under control in 2014.

"We are convinced that the rupiah will strengthen after the general elections next year," Executive Director of BI's Communications Department Difi A Johansyah said here on Sunday.

He said that the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar which fell and now reached Rp12,000 was something that often took place at a year-end period.

Difi predicted the rupiah would improve at the end of the first semester or at the beginning of the second semester of 2014, when the rupiah value against the Greenback increased to below Rp11,000.

"In the run-up to or after the general elections, the rupiah value usually strengthens," he said.

Indonesia will organize a legislative election on April 9, 2014 and a presidential poll on July 9, 2014.

He said that Indonesia's non oil and gas export performance was also now showing improvement because the United States and China's economies had begun to roll on again so that their imports also began to increase.

According to the BI director, the fall of the rupiah value was not a doomsday. One of the causes of the weakening of the rupiah was the high imports that boosted demand for foreign exchange.

"In countries which have a strong production basis, the weakening of their local currencies brings advantage to local producers," he added.

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