A customer accesses a ride-hailing application as app-based motorcycle taxi drivers wait on the roadside near Palmerah Station in Jakarta (Source: thejakartapost.com) Jakarta (VNA) – The Statistics Indonesia (BPS) has started to include prices of services provided by ride-hailing providers Gojek and Grab in the country's inflation calculation.
BPS head Suhariyanto said on February 3 that the agency incorporated the new price component into the country’s consumer price index (CPI) because of their “significant economic sizes”.
Ride hailing service is among 98 new commodities, such as cellphone accessories, according to Suhariyanto. These components are growing significantly and have substantial economic activities, he explained.
In addition to the new components, the BPS also changed the CPI base year to 2018 from 2012.
Using new formula, January’s CPI was calculated at 0.39 percent compared to the previous month and at 0.32 percent compared to a year ago.
The different components used in the calculation, however, did not significantly affect this year’s inflation rate compared to previous years, Suhariyanto added.
The main cause of the inflation last month was the increased prices of chilies, fish and tobacco, despite declining prices of flight tickets and fuel, he said, noting that the Indonesian government’s decision to lower the prices of fuel and flight tickets had contributed to deflation in January.
Indonesia recorded an annual inflation of 2.72 percent in 2019, the lowest level in about two decades
Bank Indonesia has aimed for inflation to be 2 – 4 percent this year while the government targets a CPI of 3.1 percent in its 2020 state budget./.
VNA
