Indonesia: Inflation ticks down in February

In February, consumer prices increased 0.17% compared to the previous month, which was well below January’s 0.62% month-on-month rise. The deceleration was largely driven by lower prices for food which more than offset stronger increases in administered prices. Inflation inched down from January’s 3.3% to an over one-year low of 3.2% in February. The result remained within the Central Bank’s target range for 2018 of 3.5% plus or minus 1.0 percentage point.

Meanwhile, core consumer prices, which exclude volatile items such as food and administered prices, rose 0.26% month-on-month in February, slightly below January’s 0.31% increase. Core inflation edged down from 2.7% in January to a multi-year low of 2.6%.

Indonesia Inflation Forecast

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect inflation to average 3.8% in 2018, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast. For 2019, panelists see inflation averaging 4.0%.