Indonesia: Inflation ticks down in February
Consumer prices fell 0.02% in February over the previous month, swinging from January’s 0.56% rise. The reading was largely driven by a drop in prices for food, Beverages and Tobacco, as well as Information, Communication, and Financial Services.
Inflation rose to 2.1% in February following January’s 2.2%. Meanwhile, annual average inflation rose slightly to 1.7% in the same month, from 1.6% in January. Finally, core inflation ticked up to 2.0% in February, from the prior month’s 1.8%.
Commenting on the outlook, Nicolas Mapa, senior economist at ING, commented:
“Going forward we expect price pressures to continue to build, especially as geopolitical developments drive up the price of both food items and energy. We expect both headline and core inflation to trend higher in the coming months, with full year inflation forecast to hit 3.4%.”