Indonesia’s rupiah fell to its weakest level against the US dollar since the Asian financial crisis of 1998 over mounting fears about the policies of President Prabowo Subianto and their impact on the fiscal position of south-east Asia’s largest economy.

The rupiah fell as much as 0.5 per cent to briefly hit 16,640 against the dollar on Tuesday, not far from its record low of 16,800 in June 1998, the year of the downfall of Suharto, Indonesia’s former longtime dictator.

Bank Indonesia, the country’s central bank, told the Financial Times that it had intervened in bond and currency markets on Tuesday “to ensure the stability of the rupiah exchange rate and maintain the balance of foreign exchange demand and supply, thereby maintaining market confidence”.