Indonesia: Ministers Coordinate Closely to Keep Inflation at Bay

• Apr 18, 2017

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that state ministers are coordinating closely to keep inflation at bay during the month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr 2017.

Sri Mulyani said that ministers have been monitoring supply and demand of commodities that can cause inflation, including sugar, rice, chicken meat and cooking oil.

“We also keep an eye on cartel practices,” she said in Jakarta on Monday, April 17, 2017. Sri said that the government will prevent cartel price increases. The government will monitor import activities and purchase of goods.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) foresees high inflation rates in May and June 2017 ahead of Eid al-Fitr.

BPS reported March deflation of 0.02 percent. The main contributor to deflation was lower food prices, particularly chili peppers and shallot. Year-to-date (YTD) inflation stands at 1.9 percent and year-on-year (YoY) inflation rate is 3.61 percent.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2017/04/18/056866966/Ministers-Coordinate-Closely-to-Keep-Inflation-at-Bay