Goods Prices Crawl Up, Bank Indonesia Claims Inflation Still Maintained

Illustration (doc. Ministry of Finance)

JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI) stated that the current level of inflation is still relatively under control according to the target set at 3 percent plus minus 1 percent. This is evidenced by a report from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) which released that inflation in March 2022 on an annual basis (year-on-year) was 2.64 percent.

"Bank Indonesia remains consistent in maintaining price stability and strengthening policy coordination with the government, both at the central and regional levels, in order to keep inflation within the target range of 3.0 percent plus minus 1 percent in 2022," said BI Communications Department Head Erwin Haryono in a statement. officially quoted Sunday, April 3rd.

According to Erwin, core inflation in March 2022 was recorded at 0.30 percent on a monthly basis, relatively stable compared to inflation in February 2022 which was 0.31 percent. By commodity, core inflation was contributed by gold jewelery and house rental commodities, in line with global gold price movements and increased public mobility.

"Core inflation has been maintained amidst increasing domestic demand, supported by maintained exchange rate stability and consistent policy of Bank Indonesia in guiding inflation expectations," he said.

Erwin added, the volatile food group in March 2022 experienced inflation of 1.99 percent on a monthly basis influenced by inflation of red chili, cooking oil, and chicken eggs, along with weather constraints, and the implementation of the lifting of the Highest Retail Price (HET) for cooking oil.

Meanwhile, the administered prices group in March 2022 experienced inflation of 0.73 percent, an increase compared to inflation in the previous month which was recorded at 0.18 percent.

"This development is influenced by inflation for household fuels and gasoline in line with price adjustments for non-subsidized LPG and non-subsidized fuel," he concluded.