Indonesia’s 2022 inflation surpasses forecast

Bekasi market in Indonesia (Photo: AFP)

Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s inflation rose slightly in December and remained above the central bank’s target range for the 7th successive month, as household spending increased during the year-end holidays.

According to data released by the Statistics Indonesia on January 2, the headline annual inflation rate picked up to 5.51% in December, compared with 5.42% in November and the 5.39% expected by analysts.

Bank Indonesia (BI)’s inflation target range is 2-4%. In its meeting last month, the central bank had predicted that December inflation would not exceed 5.4%.

BI raised the key policy rate by a total of 200 basis points in the period from August to December to bring inflation to within its target range this year.

December’s prices were propped up by higher prices of fuel, airfares, house rents and foodstuff such as rice and eggs, Statistics Indonesia chief Margo Yuwono told a news conference.

The annual core inflation rate, which excludes government-controlled prices and volatile food prices, inched higher to 3.36% last year./.