This is the second in our series of blog posts about Indonesia for the upcoming V-Indonesia 2012. These posts are especially geared towards participants who are flying in to Indonesia.
The rupiah (Rp) is the official currency of Indonesia. Issued and controlled by the Bank of Indonesia, the ISO 4217 currency code for the Indonesian rupiah is IDR. Informally, Indonesians also use the word “perak” (‘silver’ in Indonesian) in referring to rupiah. The rupiah is subdivided into 100 sen, although inflation has rendered all coins and banknotes denominated in sen obsolete.
The current rupiah consists of coins from 25 rupiah up to 1000 rupiah (1 rupiah are officially legal tender but are effectively worthless and are not circulated), and from banknotes of 1000 rupiah up to 100,000 rupiah.
Now, we’ve found a great website for converting Indonesian rupiah into various other currencies. It’s at http://coinmill.com/IDR_calculator.html. The great thing about this is you can also type in the amount of foreign currency you’ve got, press Enter, and it’s equivalents in ALL other currencies will show up, not just in rupia. The site’s exchange rate is also updated every 24 hours, so trust that it will be accurate, even anywhere in the world.
For people on the go, there are also free apps available at the Apple app store for downloading. Here’s one for the iPhone and iPad http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/xe-currency/id315241195?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4, and another that’s compatible with both devices plus the iTouch http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/xe-currency/id315241195?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4.
For BlackBerry users, here’s a free currency converter app available at the BlackBerry App World http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/6545/ and another one from OANDA http://www.oanda.com/mobile/converter/blackberry.
And for Android users, here’s a link to some currency converter apps at Google Play. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oanda.currencyconverter&hl=tl
So there, I hope you’re all set on the money department!
You can read the first of our “All About Indonesia” series, an Introduction to Jakarta, here.
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