Indonesia Aug inflation at 3.27%, below expectations

A worker walks past stacks of containers at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia, Feb 3, 2023. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/File photo

JAKARTA  – Indonesia’s annual inflation inched up in August, but was below market expectations and still within the central bank’s target range, statistics bureau data showed on Friday.

The Consumer Price Index rose 3.27 percent in August, below analysts’ expectations of 3.33 percent in a Reuters poll, and compared with July’s 3.08 percent.

Bank Indonesia’s inflation target range for 2023 is 2 percent to 4 percent.

However, annual core inflation, which strips out government-controlled prices and volatile food prices, eased in August to 2.18 percent from 2.43 percent in the previous month. The poll had expected a 2.3- percent rate for August.

The main drivers of headline inflation acceleration were rising prices of rice, fuel and cigarettes.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.02 percent in August.