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Indonesia: Whole-year inflation recorded at 3.13 percent: BPS
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) on Wednesday announced that the whole-year inflation rate was 3.13 percent, lower than the 3.5 percent target set in the 2018 state budget.
The 2018 rate was also lower than 3.61 percent inflation in 2017, but higher than 3.02 percent inflation in 2016.
BPS head Suhariyanto said the low figure was caused by the stable administered prices of commodities like fuel and electricity throughout the year.
“We hope we can maintain prices at a stable rate this year so that we can keep our inflation rate low,” he said during a press conference in Jakarta.
BPS deputy for statistics distribution and services Yunita Rusanti said the price increase of raw food was the main contributor to inflation in 2018.
Meanwhile, the administered prices were slightly lower than in 2017 because of the government’s decision not to increase the prices of subsidized fuel and electricity, she added.
BPS recorded that inflation in December alone was at 0.62 percent, much higher than in November, when it was at 0.27 percent, but lower than in the same month last year, when it was at 0.71 percent.
Suhariyanto said volatile foods contributed 0.29 percent to the December inflation, the highest among other groups of goods, mainly because of higher egg and chicken prices during the Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations. (bbn)
Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/01/02/whole-year-inflation-recorded-at-3-13-percent-bps.html