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Indonesia markets resilient amid turbulence, inflation modest -Finance Minister

JAKARTA : Indonesia will strive to maintain its position as a relative economic “bright spot”, amid a risk of a global recession next year, its finance minister said on Wednesday, underlining the country’s relatively resilient financial markets.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati warned that the world is facing the risk of stagflation next year, pointing to the International Monetary Fund’s recent downgrade of the global economic outlook and analysts’ predictions of rising food insecurity.

Financial markets have also been volatile due to monetary tightening by major economies, she said.

Indonesia’s economy is faring better compared with other emerging markets, she said, citing a rise in bond yields and inflation being relatively less pronounced than in peers, even after authorities recently raised prices of subsidised fuels.

She said authorities would continue to use fiscal instruments to respond to turbulence.

“We have to remain vigilant because we have to maintain this bright spot,” Sri Mulyani said.

“Coordination between fiscal and monetary policymakers will be intensified because the challenges have now shifted to the financial sector,” she said.

Source: Reuters