Indonesia’s central bank stood pat at its May policy meeting, a widely expected decision as policymakers keep an eye on rupiah stability and inflation against an uncertain backdrop, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bank Indonesia kept its benchmark seven-day reverse repo rate at 6.25%. All seven economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected the decision. The central bank also held its overnight deposit facility rate at 5.50% and its lending facility rate at 7.0%.

Indonesia’s central bank delivered its first rate hike of the year, defying broad projections for a hold as it looks to support a tumbling rupiah, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bank Indonesia on Wednesday raised its benchmark seven-day reverse repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%, tightening policy settings for the first time since October last year. The decision is a “pre-emptive and forward-looking step to strengthen rupiah’s stability and cushion the impact of worsening global risks,” Bank Indonesia Gov. Perry Warjiyo said at a press conference.

A surprise rate increase by Indonesia’s central bank underlines expectations that the start of monetary policy easing is looking increasingly far off for many Asian central banks, if it is on the horizon at all, the Wall Street Journal reported. As the U.S. Federal Reserve holds off on its own rate cuts and Asian currencies come under pressure, central banks in Asia face a dilemma. Lowering before the Fed does risks adding pressure to already-weak Asian currencies, pushing up prices of imported goods and services and sending inflation rates higher.

Indonesia said fiscal and monetary policies are in sync to cushion the economy from the rising dollar, demonstrating an all-hands-on-deck approach, with the central bank signaling they’re intervening more actively to aid the rupiah, Bloomberg News reported. “We work very closely with Governor Perry in order for us to be able to adjust the macro stance to adapt with this new level of pressure,” Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Thursday, referring to Bank Indonesia’s top policymaker.

State builder PT Wijaya Karya clinched an agreement with some of Indonesia’s biggest banks to restructure 20.58 trillion rupiah ($1.31 billion) of debt, after the government’s infrastructure push saddled it with an unmanageable pile of liabilities, Bloomberg News reported. The state-owned construction company said it signed the deal with 11 institutions, including PT Bank Mandiri, PT Bank Negara Indonesia, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia, PT Bank Tabungan Negara, PT Bank Syariah Indonesia and PT Bank Panin.

Indonesia sold $2 billion in the form of a US-currency sukuk, its first such issuance in 18 months against the backdrop of a global rise in borrowing costs, Bloomberg News reported. Southeast Asia’s largest economy issued $1 billion of five-year Sharia-compliant notes for general financing, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as they are not authorized to speak about it. It also launched $1 billion worth of 10-year green notes for expenditure as outlined under its sustainable securities framework.

The Indonesian rupiah just had the worst quarter in more than a year, and analysts see more losses ahead, Bloomberg News reported. The currency broke the closely watched 15,400 level last week, and there is a possibility it may test this year’s low of 15,638, according to Malayan Banking Berhad. Higher crude prices threaten to worsen the net oil-importing nation’s finances, and that along with higher US yields and a stronger dollar are likely to weigh down the rupiah.

Indonesia’s central bank tapped tools other than interest rates to help the rupiah weather an emerging-market selloff triggered by the prospect of tighter US monetary policy, Bloomberg News reported. Bank Indonesia Thursday kept the benchmark seven-day reverse repurchase rate at a four-year high of 5.75%. While the decision was widely expected, Governor Perry Warjiyo announced a new tool to attract foreign funds to support the local currency. The decision came as data compiled by Bloomberg showed investors sold $127 million worth of Indonesian bonds so far this August.

The Indonesian government is reviewing a plan to merge state-owned airlines Garuda Indonesia and Pelita Air, a unit of energy firm Pertamina, to ensure affordable airfares, an executive said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The plan came a year after Garuda reached an agreement with its creditors to restructure its $9 billion debt.