Indonesia’s Dec inflation at 1.57% y/y, as expected

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s annual inflation rate in December was 1.57%, barely changed from 1.55% in the previous month, official data showed on Thursday, and close to economists’ estimate of a 1.60% rate in a Reuters poll.

The annual core inflation rate, which strips out government-controlled prices and volatile food prices, was 2.26% in December, the same as November and close to the poll forecast of 2.28%.

The country’s central bank has targeted inflation in 2024 and 2025 to be within a range of 1.5% to 3.5%.

Policymakers at Bank Indonesia have repeatedly said they were monitoring global developments to determine the right time to continue easing monetary policy.

The central bank cut rates in September, but has since paused despite inflation being at near the lower end of its target range, due to financial market volatility and weakness in the rupiah currency.