Semarang │ May 15, 2017 Faculty of Economics at Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang (Unimus) in partnership with Bank Indonesia (BI) held a national seminar entitled “Socialization of the Role of Bank Indonesia and Rupiah Banknotes and Coins in the Emission Year 2016” in Kedungmundu Campus Hall of Unimus. The seminar was officially opened by the Rector of Unimus, Prof. Dr. H. Masrukhi, MPd., and attended by college students as well as teachers and students from senior high schools (SMA) and Vocational High Schools (SMK) in Semarang City. The speakers of the seminar were Dr. Hardiwinoto, M.Si. (Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Unimus), Edhie Haryanto (Deputy Director of Communication Department, Bank Indonesia and Dandy Indarto Seno (Performance Manager of Bank Indonesia. Dean of the Faculty of Economics stated that it was very important to understand things regarding the increasing cases of counterfeit money and the utilization of money.
The Rector thanked the guest speakers as it was a rare occasion that a deputy director at Bank Indonesia could directly come to Unimus to deliver some presentation “Unimus always attempts to do improvements. Study Programs in Accounting and Management have been accredited B since 2016 so that the graduates are competent enough to work at bonafide workplaces, for example at Bank Indonesia” the Rector added.
According to Dr. Hardiwinoto, the forms and patterns of rupiah banknotes are very nice, compared to those in many other countries in the world. However, the exchange rate has declined and is susceptible to “inflation attacks”. Thus, Bank Indonesia, the Government, and all Indonesian people need to keep and secure the exchange rate so that it won’t decline in the near future. “In 1965, the inflation of rupiah was 660 percents. So was in 1998. Before 1998, the U.S. Dollar to Indonesian Rupiah was Rp 2.000 but in 1998 it became 15.000, meaning dropping drastically. The cost of buying a motorcycle before 1998 equaled the price of a bicycle in 1998.” the Dean added. Meanwhile, Edhie Haryanto stated that some of the Indonesian people haven’t understood yet about money, rupiah, why the exchange rate could fall, and how the government stabilized it.
On that occasion, the Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Unimus also expressed her willingness about the establishment of a BI Corner at Unimus and further cooperation between Unimus and BI in accordanace with research projects. He also said to the audience about a cooperation plan with the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan-OJK) to support learning.
The national seminar was held from 9 a.m to 1 p.m. The participants were actively involved in the discussion moderated by Setia Irianto, S.E., M.Si., one of the lecturers of the Faculty of Economics at Unimus.
Reported by the Technical Unit of Public Relations and Protocol.
