Finance Ministry Says Indonesia’s Inflation under Control ahead of Ramadan

The Head of the Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF) of the Finance Ministry Febrio Kacaribu stated that inflation was under control ahead of Ramadan.

IDXChannel - The Head of the Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF) of the Finance Ministry Febrio Kacaribu stated that inflation was under control ahead of Ramadan. The March 2023 inflation rate was recorded at only 4.97 percent year-on-year (yoy), decreasing from 5.47 percent (yoy) in the previous month.

"Various efforts to control food prices ahead of Ramadan by the government have proven to be quite effective in reducing food inflation. The role of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) is also very crucial, especially in ensuring the adequacy and availability of supplies of various staple foods," said Febrio in Jakarta on Tuesday (4 /4/2023).

Volatile food price inflation was able to be significantly reduced from 7.62 percent (yoy) last month to 5.83 percent (yoy) in March 2023.

"Even so, on a month-to-month basis, there has been a slight increase in the prices of some food commodities ahead of Ramadan due to increasing demands. Rice prices are also expected to decline as the main harvest period begins in early March," said Febrio.

Apart from food, lower inflation was also driven by slowing core inflation, which was 2.94 percent (yoy) in March, lower than core inflation in February (3.09 percent). 

The slowdown occurred in almost all groups of goods and services in line with decreasing global commodity prices.

Nonetheless, the government is anticipating the impacts of rising global oil prices in the last few days due to the OPEC+ policy which plans to cut production.
   
"The government continues to maintain price stability ahead of the National Religious Holidays (HBKN) of Ramadan and Eid. The central and regional governments will continue to monitor food prices and supplies and carry out various intervention policies, including through market operations and low-cost markets for staple foods, as well as strengthening food stocks," said Febrio.

The additional rice social assistance program that started rolling at the end of March is also expected to be able to control price pressures in the domestic market and maintain access to staple food for the community.

"Price stability during the HBKN period is an important key in maintaining food security and people's purchasing power," concluded Febrio. (WHY)