Indonesia: Inflation declines in September
Consumer prices fell 0.18% from the previous month in September, following August’s 0.05% decrease. As was the case in the previous month, September’s print largely reflected lower food prices.
Inflation fell from 3.2% in August to 2.9% in September, below market expectations but remaining within the Bank Indonesia target range for 2018 of 3.5% plus or minus 1.0 percentage point, while core inflation ticked down from 2.9% in August to 2.8% in September. Lower price pressures came despite ongoing rupiah weakness.
According to analysts at ING, “food inflation (16.19% of the consumer basket) slowed to 3.75% from 4.9% as timely government rice imports helped to maintain a plentiful supply.”