Indonesia inflation remains within central bank range in August

By Stefanno Sulaiman and Gayatri Suroyo

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s annual inflation rate was 2.12 percent in August, basically unchanged from 2.13 percent in July, official data showed on Monday, staying comfortably within the central bank’s target range and in line with market expectations.

August’s headline inflation rate was the lowest since February 2022 and matched the forecast in a Reuters poll. Bank Indonesia (BI) has a target range of 1.5% to 3.5% for inflation.

The annual rate of core inflation rose to 2.02 percent last month from 1.95 percent in July, the data showed, slightly above the poll’s forecast of 1.98 percent.

Inflation in Southeast Asia’s largest economy has remained within the central bank’s target range since the middle of last year, but BI has kept interest rates relatively high to focus on anchoring the rupiah and combating global market volatility. Governor Perry Warjiyo said currency stability was the focus of policy for this quarter, but he saw room for easing monetary policy to boost economic growth next quarter.

(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman, Gayatri Suroyo and Bernadette Christina; Editing by John Mair)