JAKARTA Aug 4 — Indonesia’s inflation rate in July dropped to the lowest level since 2000 as the Covid-19 pandemic ravages people’s purchasing power, reported VNA, based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

The country’s consumer price index (CPI) was up by 1.54 per cent year-on-year in July, below Bank Indonesia’s (BI) target range of between 2 and 4 per cent. It was also lower than June’s inflation rate of 1.96 per cent.

Meanwhile, the core inflation rate stood at 2.07 per cent, as government-administered prices were up 0.70 per cent and volatile prices only rose by 0.35 per cent year-on-year.

BPS head Suhariyanto said the core inflation was still weak and the Government still has to work hard to boost people’s purchasing power.

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The South-east Asian country gradually restarted economic activities in July to accelerate the recovery of its economy, which has been badly hit by the pandemic.

The Indonesian government has also earmarked Rp695.2 trillion (about US$47.2 billion) for stimulus measures to strengthen the country’s health care response and boost the economy amid the ongoing health crisis.

However, it predicted the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to have contracted by 3.8 per cent in the second quarter and possibly shrinking further in the third, which would mark Indonesia’s first recession since the 1998 financial crisis. — Bernama

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