วันศุกร์ที่ 2 พฤศจิกายน พ.ศ. 2550

Inflation holds broadly steady despite Idul Fitri splurge

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Inflation remained broadly steady in October despite the Idul Fitri holidays, although the central bank has recently warned of a possible pickup in imported inflation due to rising prices of oil and other commodities.
Consumer prices in October were up 0.79 percent from a month earlier, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said Thursday, as a result of price increases arising from higher demand for food and clothing, as well as transportation and communications services over the holidays.
On an annual basis, however, October's year-on-year inflation eased slightly to 6.88 percent, while prices from January to October increased by 5.24 percent.
Inflation during September, which saw prices ticking up during the first two weeks of Ramadhan preceding the Idul Fitri festivities, came in at 0.8 percent month-to-month and 6.95 percent year-on-year.
BPS chairman Rusman Heriawan said that last month's inflation was mostly accounted for by higher staple food prices, which rose 1.87 percent and contributed 0.44 percent to the overall inflation rate. The price of clothing was up 2.05 percent, accounting for another 0.11 percent.
"Inflation in October was demand pull in nature, and reached 1 percent during Idul Fitri, but then eased back as the month came to an end," he said.
"Looking ahead, future inflation could be cost push on rising oil prices."
Bank Indonesia has warned of the possible risk of a rise in inflation due to higher prices of imported goods -- or imported inflation -- in the long term as a result of recent increases in oil and other commodity prices.
This will be taken into consideration by BI in determining its monetary policies, including its key interest rate. BI's Board of Governors is scheduled to meet on Nov. 6, having kept the BI rate steady at 8.25 percent since July on rising inflationary expectations.
Meanwhile, the BPS's newly released trade figures show that Indonesia's main export, crude palm oil (CPO), fell 35 percent in volume to 618,000 tons in September, and 30 percent in value to US$479 million.
This is in line with the government's efforts to ensure domestic supplies and keep cooking oil prices in check, Rusman said.
Total exports during the January-September period reached $83.02 billion, up by nearly 13 percent from the same period last year.
Indonesia's oil and gas imports in September rose 26 percent to $2.24 billion, with exports amounting to $1.97 billion.
Total imports for January-September were up 17 percent at $53.67 billion.