BENGALURU: The Indonesian rupiah was part of a broad decline in Asian currencies led by the Japanese yen on Thursday after Jakarta's surprise decision to widen the scope of a new palm oil export ban to include crude and refined palm oil.

       The rupiah slipped 0.3%, falling to its weakest level in nine months, while Indonesian 10-year benchmark bond yields fell by 0.6 basis points.

       The broadening of Indonesia's ban on palm oil exports, which industry officials believed was unlikely to last more than a month because of limited infrastructure, drove up global edible oil prices.

       Supplies had already been choked by Russia's invasion of major crop producer Ukraine.

       "Our base case remains for the restrictions to be relatively short-lived, though we continue to note the risk of a much longer embargo," Barclays analyst Brian Tan said in a note.

       The Bank of Japan doubled down on its super low-yield policy by offering to buy unlimited amounts of bonds every session as needed, in stark contrast with a tightening monetary policy in most countries.

       The decision drove the yen down 1.1% to a two-decade low against the U.S. dollar, while Japanese government bonds rallied. The dollar shot to two-decade highs relative to the yen.

       The Thai baht and the South Korean won both weakened by 0.5% against the strong U.S. dollar.

       Weakness in the won forced the country's finance minister to warn it would take steps to stabilise the local foreign exchange market if needed.

       Thailand's manufacturing production index in March unexpectedly fell 0.1% from a year earlier as higher inflation hit the industry, data showed, a day after the country slashed its 2022 economic growth forecast due to the impact of the Ukraine conflict.

       The Taiwan dollar also eased 0.4% ahead of the release of the country's gross domestic product data later in the day, which analysts expect will be weak because of slowing economic growth, job losses and supply chain disruptions.

       "Looking forward, hot weather increases the risk of power shortages... and therefore suspension of factory operations is possible," ING analysts wrote in a note.

       HIGHLIGHTS

       ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark bond yields are down 0.6 basis points at 6.98%？？

       ** Thailand's 10-year government bond yields are down 32.39 basis points at 2.79%