Post by Oz-T on Jul 1, 2015 5:39:51 GMT
Indonesia Bans Foreign Currencies
Here’s a new law that tourists ought to be aware of if they’re headed toward Indonesia: starting today, you won’t be able to use any currency other than the rupiah on your holidays there.
The Indonesian rupiah is one of those volatile currencies that easily get devalued in the good times as well as the bad times. It’s fallen so much in the last few years that the government has sought to steady it a bit by forcing it upon people for domestic use. This means that you can’t hand over US or Aussie dollars to pay for your goods and services any more. As $73 billion a year in non-rupiah cash is used to pay for things, that’s a lot of dough that’ll now go into exchanging for the local currency.
I must admit that I’m not usually one to pay for things in foreign cash, but thinking back, I have done it a few times – on two separate occasions (and trips) in Bali I did offer Australian banknotes which were gladly accepted. And the US$ was a very welcome sight to small traders in Egypt in 2009. Other than that, I’ve always had local banknotes to buy things. But I have noted on numerous occasions how many tourists (particularly Americans) regularly whip out the popular US dollars in foreign countries. I guess that’s the advantage of having the world’s reserve currency.
But many people will now have to change their ways if they’re in Indonesia. Personally, I can’t see how they’ll enforce this law with the local small traders who will be more interested in making a profitable sale than complying with laws they won’t agree with. But just keep this in mind if you’re headed to Indonesia.
Here’s a new law that tourists ought to be aware of if they’re headed toward Indonesia: starting today, you won’t be able to use any currency other than the rupiah on your holidays there.
The Indonesian rupiah is one of those volatile currencies that easily get devalued in the good times as well as the bad times. It’s fallen so much in the last few years that the government has sought to steady it a bit by forcing it upon people for domestic use. This means that you can’t hand over US or Aussie dollars to pay for your goods and services any more. As $73 billion a year in non-rupiah cash is used to pay for things, that’s a lot of dough that’ll now go into exchanging for the local currency.
I must admit that I’m not usually one to pay for things in foreign cash, but thinking back, I have done it a few times – on two separate occasions (and trips) in Bali I did offer Australian banknotes which were gladly accepted. And the US$ was a very welcome sight to small traders in Egypt in 2009. Other than that, I’ve always had local banknotes to buy things. But I have noted on numerous occasions how many tourists (particularly Americans) regularly whip out the popular US dollars in foreign countries. I guess that’s the advantage of having the world’s reserve currency.
But many people will now have to change their ways if they’re in Indonesia. Personally, I can’t see how they’ll enforce this law with the local small traders who will be more interested in making a profitable sale than complying with laws they won’t agree with. But just keep this in mind if you’re headed to Indonesia.
