Indonesia experienced a significant, unexpected acceleration in consumer price inflation in March, reaching its highest level in seven months, as revealed by recent data from the country's statistics bureau.
In March, the consumer price index rose by 3.05 percent compared to the same time last year, which was a faster increase than February's 2.75 percent. It was anticipated that inflation would climb to 2.91 percent, hence, the actual increase surpassed expectations. The last time the inflation rate peaked this high was in August 2023, with prices increasing by 3.27 percent.
Regardless of this recent acceleration, the inflation rate has consistently stayed within the central bank's target range of 2-4 percent. The core inflation rate, which excludes volatile items like fuel and food prices, also rose slightly to 1.77 percent in March from 1.68 percent the previous month. This growth rate surpassed economists' forecast of 1.70 percent.
Food items witnessed a notable acceleration in annual price growth, moving up from 6.36 percent to 7.43 percent. Also, utility costs were 0.55 percent higher compared to the previous year and transportation charges escalated by 0.99 percent.
In terms of month-on-month changes, consumer prices rose by 0.52 percent in March, a higher increase than the projected 0.39 percent. The core consumer price index rose minimally by 0.23 percent.
Aside from this, official data also highlighted a significant increase in foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia. In February, there was a 38.24 percent annual spike, and an 11.67 percent monthly rise, amounting to a total of 1.04 million visitors.
