Bali’s Aussie ‘millionaires’ a thing of the past as Indonesia works toward currency redenomination
One of the greatest novelties and sometimes one of the biggest headaches for tourists travelling to Indonesia is set to get short changed, literally.
Aussies have long felt like instant millionaires after landing in Bali or any of the other idyllic island locations and trading their dollar for huge wads of cash while spending hundreds of thousands of rupiah on a meal.
The rupiah offers 1,000 as its smallest note denomination, but the Indonesian Government is in the process of redenominating their currency which will mean dropping the three zeros from those banknotes and redefining their value.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The redenomination will likely take full effect by 2027 with 2026 the last year tourists will be paying millions for everyday goods.
In the simplest terms, IDR 1,000 will become IDR 1, the IDR 100,000 note will simply become IDR 100 and so on, with the purchasing power of the rupiah and its value to remain the same.
This move has been anticipated for many years, with economic leaders, government officials, and members of the public advocating for such a simplification.
But the idea took centre stage in 2023, when the then-Governor of Bank Indonesia, Perry Warkiyo, confirmed that the central bank was ready to support the transition according to the Bali Sun.
One of the biggest positives for the change will be the obvious confusion around cash amounts at the point of sale throughout Indonesia but also the eradication of scams and fraudsters using the vast amounts to prey on customers.
Frequent confusion has often been exploited by money exchange scammers who have a well-established fraudulent system in place throughout Indonesia, and particularly in Bali.
Bali tourists are regularly caught out by one exchange scam when they present cash they wish to swap.
The teller then calculates the exchange and counts out the often dozens of notes in front of the customer, stating clearly the correct exchange for the tourist to see.
The teller then bundles the cash back together and using a sleight of hand, swipes as many notes as possible off the desktop to the table below, often while the tourist is preoccupied or signing the exchange receipt.
Tourists are urged to double-check the amount of money they are handed over in the final transaction before leaving the desk.
