Asia's `Shopping Paradise' Lures Indonesians After Rupiah Rally
- Currency has gained 10% in six months, buoyed by bond flows
- Central bank says it doesn't want rupiah to get too strong
A woman on the waterfront boardwalk of the Marina Bay Sands shopping mall takes in the view across of the Singapore business district skyline, on Wednesday, October 13, 2010.
Photographer: Munshi Ahmed/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Drawn by the lure of some of Asia’s best shopping and buoyed by a resurgent rupiah, 20-something Indonesian Dewi Lestari was ready to spend when she set foot in Singapore for the first time this month.
“The exchange rate is pretty good and Singapore’s a shopping paradise,” said Lestari, an administrative assistant at a car workshop, as she arrived at the ferry terminal after flying to Batam from her home in Jakarta. “That’s the only reason why I’m here.”