Currency Law Official Interpretation

Following the passage of Law No.7 of 2011 on Currency (“Currency Law”) on 28 June 2011, the Ministry of Finance recently released an official interpretation of the Currency Law called “Sosialisasi Undang-Undang Nomor 7 Tahun 2011 Tentang Mata Uang”, which is not legislation per se as acknowledged under Law No.12 of 2011 on the Establishment of Laws and Regulations. 

Issues that are publicly debated with respect to the “Rupiah Use” clause which is stipulated in Article 21 of the Currency, and the “Prohibition to refuse Rupiah as a Legal Tender” clause under Article 23, are addressed by the official interpretation.    

In order to comprehend the problem on the interpretation of Article 21 and Article 23 of the Currency Law, the following is what Article 21 and Article 23 states – followed by the official interpretation by the Ministry of Finance: