Indonesia, is better Euro or Dollars?

"Sjoerd" wrote in message ...
"chilly" schreef in bericht
news:trayc.727647$oR5.209618@pd7tw3no...

"Sjoerd" wrote in message
...


Best advice is what you said first: leave your currency at home and
use an ATM.

Here we agree.

Regardless, have some dollars currency in reserve in case of an emergency.

Or euros. Or another major currency

Depends where you're going. If you're staying in Jakarta or Denpasar
or Pekanbaru or similar big city then you're right. But if you're "off
the beaten path" you might find that only Dollars and Rupiah will
work.

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 07:20:46 +0200, the renowned "Sjoerd"
wrote:


"chilly" schreef in bericht
news:trayc.727647$oR5.209618@pd7tw3no...

"Sjoerd" wrote in message
...


Best advice is what you said first: leave your currency at home and
use an ATM.

Here we agree.

Regardless, have some dollars currency in reserve in case of an emergency.

Or euros. Or another major currency

Sjoerd

Euros might be a bit more convenient with the EUR500 note. A MIX of
currencies might reduce the exchange-rate cost and risk and could be a
help in case you are robbed (circumstantial evidence- if a robber is
found holding US$ or Euros it's one thing, but CDN or AUD...

How much do other people typically carry in "emergency" cash?

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

"Spehro Pefhany" schreef in bericht
...

How much do other people typically carry in "emergency" cash?


About 100 euros in my case.

Sjoerd

"Miguel Cruz" wrote in message
...
Sjoerd wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" schreef:
Adriano wrote:
I will get Indonesia and I'd like to know if it is better reach
Indonesia with Euro or Dollars? I'm european and I'd like to go there
with euro. Will the change rate be disadvantageous?
My first stop will be in Jakarta, can I change my money at the
airport? Is there a good change rate?

Typically you'll do slightly better with dollars,

Really? This is no longer the case in most Asian and African (and of
course
European) countries, in my experience. If the EUR = 1.2 USD, you will
get
1.2 times more in local currency for EUR than for USD these days in most
countries.

In countries with very free movement of money, arbitrage of course has the
effect of neutralizing currency biases like this. But Indonesia is not
such
a country.

miguel
--

Do you mean Indonesia does not have free movement of money?
I am not aware of any exchange controls or any thing like that.
Spend a while in a major bank or money changer in Jakarta and you will see
more cash foreign exchange going on, quite legally, than you will in most
places.

There is often a better rate for US$ (i.e. a narrower buy/sell spread) than
other currencies and I think that is simply because it is by far the most
traded currency in Indonesia. This is not because of tourism etc but because
the US$ is used as a parallel currency for some transactions, for example
international air tickets and many top hotels are priced in $, also many
long term business contracts, especially those involving any foreign
companies or imports/exports are written in US$. This is partly a protection
against the historical instability of the Rupiah.

Most large companies and many individuals (including me) hold bank accounts
in both Rp and $ and there are no restriction on this, and payment in $ is
quite common.

I now find the best exchange rates are at some local (i.e. non foreign)
banks rather than money changers (plus there's a lower risk of fake money
etc.). Foreign banks, especially the big ones - Citibank and HSBC - give
awful exchange rates.

I use BNI in Jakarta for changing money.

BNI rates (see http://www.bni.co.id/english/index.html) today a

Bid Offer



USD 9330 9410

JPY 8436 8536

SGD 5414 5484

EUR 11165 11265

GBP 17021 17121



Bid/offer spreads as narrow as this are very good for cash. (But they only
apply to notes in new condition, and not all denominations - for US$ the
$100 note is preferred, I have no idea about Euros)



After I that I would still probably use ATMs if visiting as a tourist.





Roger

"Markku Grönroos" wrote in message
...

"EAC" wrote in message
m...

Well... IF you're lucky, your notes are in good condition and all
accepted, with the best condition if your notes filled all the
required requirements, that would mean that you get 100% exchange
rate.

I have always been that lucky.

If you're in no luck, they might have NOT accepted the notes at all
due your notes FAILED all the required requirements.

I know. However, this has nothing to do with rates anymore.

So as you can see, discounted rate is not bad at all in comparison of
the alternative.

I never experienced it in Indonesia (I was there only four weeks though).
And if I had faced such a situation, I would have walked out. I certainly
don't sell my hard earned money by some inflated and arbitrary "rate"
regulated by the physical condition of the notes. I never changed banking
notes but traveller's cheques. It is about the same I guess.


Well, you may not believe it happens but it is true. Normally you will only
get the full rate for really mint condition notes, and in the case of US$
you may only get it for $100 notes. I understand this is due to central bank
policy, which all other banks etc follow. Even local banks and ATMs which
issue US$ always give brand new condition $100 notes (usually really new,
still in serial number sequence)
I live in Indonesia and have changed cash once or twice a month for years,
probably rather more than you have.

Of course if you change in a places with bad exchange rate such as hotels,
then they may give you the same (bad) rate for clean or used notes, they can
afford to.

Anyway I just notice you said you changed travellers cheques not notes on
your visit - so how can you tell everyone what the system is for changing
cash and that others are wrong, when you did not even do it?! Amazing.

Travellers cheques do NOT have the same rate as cash and their condition is
not an issue - as long as the condition is acceptable to the issuing bank
they get the same rate..

Roger

"Rampelbergh Michel" wrote in message
...
just got back from there

1 euro = 12000 rupiah
1 dollar = 900 rupiah



Rubbish! or at least bad typing!
I assume you meant 9000 Rp not 900.
I dont think the Euro has been at 12,000 yet.

If you could get 12,000Rp per Euro PLEASE tell me where, I could make my
fortune.

Here are today's rates from BNI, a major bank in Indonesia
Bid Offer


USD 9330 9410

JPY 8436 8536

SGD 5414 5484

EUR 11165 11265

GBP 17021 17121

see http://www.bni.co.id/english/index.html

yeah,it was 9000

I've got last week 12.000 rupiah in a special money-changer in Semarang,
but now the rate is dropped to 11.500

"Rampelbergh Michel" wrote in message
...
yeah,it was 9000

I've got last week 12.000 rupiah in a special money-changer in Semarang,
but now the rate is dropped to 11.500


Could you please tell us the name and address of the "special money
changer".
I cannot understand why he would give 11,500 when the official exchange
rate yesteday was 11,313.

If he is still doing that I can make a lot of money buying rp from him and
selling it back through a bank!

And why did he ever give 12000 - the highest mid rate since 1st March was
11,620.
You can check this at http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory
That mean he would be losing money if he gave you 12,000 for 1 Euro. (Unless
he have you fake money or short-changed you - some moeny changers give good
rates, but do not really give the correct amount in Rp).
When did he give 12,000 for 1 Euro?
By the way, I assume you were selling Euro to buy Rp.
(If you were BUYING Euro then 12000 is a bad rate.)

RAK wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" wrote:
In countries with very free movement of money, arbitrage of course has
the effect of neutralizing currency biases like this. But Indonesia is
not such a country.

Do you mean Indonesia does not have free movement of money?
I am not aware of any exchange controls or any thing like that.

There are controls on the movement of Rupiah. But admittedly, the most
significant restriction is the de facto sluggishness created by trade
imbalance and possibly investor skittishness.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

"Miguel Cruz" wrote in message
...
RAK wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" wrote:
In countries with very free movement of money, arbitrage of course has
the effect of neutralizing currency biases like this. But Indonesia is
not such a country.

Do you mean Indonesia does not have free movement of money?
I am not aware of any exchange controls or any thing like that.

There are controls on the movement of Rupiah. But admittedly, the most
significant restriction is the de facto sluggishness created by trade
imbalance and possibly investor skittishness.

miguel
--
Sorry Miguel, but I really do not believe there are any controls on the
movement of the rupiah. They were removed in the early or mid 90s.
Could you please specify what these controls are? I have not seen them.

I have moved money in and out of Indonesia on a regular basis (say every 2
months) for over 10 years plus have freely moved money between my $ & Rp
accounts here (including this week). Ditto for cash. I have also had to sign
for moves of large sums for a multinational company here. I have not seen
any controls for years (over 10 I think but I am not sure).

During unstable financlia times many people keep there cash deposits hete in
$$. It is not a problem, most major banks do it. There are even ATMs which
issue US$ cash.

The only control, if you you can call it that, is that foreigners have to
tick a box on the bank deposit form saying why they are making the transfer
(buying something, living expenses, etc.). This seems to be of no importance
and usually my bank does it for me. It does not seem to be related to forex
either.

Controls may be useful in a country like this; they helped Malaysia in
97-98, when Indonesia had no controls and $billions left the country causing
economic collapse. And judging by some rumours they may be thinking of
introducing some controls. But not yet. Wait for the new President

Roger, in Jakarta and freely moving my rupiah