Bank Indonesia (BI) has forecasted that Indonesia’s inflation rate in March 2019 will reach 0.07 per cent month-to-month. This is largely triggered by the rise in prices of several commodities, such as groceries and air tickets.
The forecast is based on a price survey conducted in the first week of March by BI Governor, Perry Warjiyo. If the forecast were to be true, the annual inflation in March stands at only 2.44 percent year-on-year (YOY). This will still be below the range of the central bank’s inflation target at 2.5-4.5 percent YOY.
Perry Warjiyo stated that food prices in March generally remain stable. While there is a slight increase in the prices of garlic, onion and transport, prices of commodities such as purebred chicken meat, red chillies, chicken eggs, and vegetables tend to decline. Perry added that an annual inflation forecast of 2.44 percent suggests that the prices in March are more stable than in the previous month. He also expects this year’s inflation to be below 3.5 percent.
Earlier, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) revealed that the country experienced a deflation rate of 0.08 per cent month-to-month, bringing the annual inflation rate at 2.57 percent in February 2019.
Source: Tempo
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