Prabowo Next President, Rupiah Little Changed

Defence minister Prabowo has declared victory in Indonesia’s election. Polls leading up to the vote had him as the likely winner and that he would surpass the required 50% level, so the result is not a surprise. The count has to be confirmed by March 20 and Prabowo will take over as President on October 20. Then we will find out if he will stick to current President Jokowi’s policies, as he’s promised. He has been a controversial candidate and unpredictable in the past.

• 1-month USDIDR NDFs rose to 15624 on the election result but are currently lower at around 15570.
• While the official results will not be known for a while, survey companies were at polling stations and their “quick count” has been released, which was an accurate indicator in the past. It showed that Prabowo is likely to win with around 58% of the vote with Anies in second on 25% and Ganjar 17%.
• Having popular President Jokowi’s son Gibran as his running mate provided a lot of support to the former general but there was controversy over the dispensation over age. There have also been reports of irregularities during the campaign and on voting day.
• Jokowi and Ganjar’s party the PDI-P is ahead in the “quick count” for parliamentary seats. Followed by Golkar and Gerindra (Prabowo’s party).