Jakarta (Indonesia), October 21: Indonesia's central bank, Bank Indonesia, on Thursday raised its benchmark interest rate for the third consecutive month to curb deepening inflation and stabilize its currency exchange rate amid uncertainty in global financial markets.
The two-day meeting of the Board of Governors of Bank Indonesia from Wednesday to Thursday decided to raise the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 4.75 percent.
The decision aimed to "lower inflation expectations that are currently overshooting," Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo said in a virtual press conference.
The central bank started raising its benchmark interest rate in August, the first time since November 2018, to a total of 125 basis points to date.
Statistics Indonesia has announced September inflation this year at 5.95 percent year on year, a hike compared to the same month last year of 1.60 percent year on year.
The central bank estimated that domestic economic growth this year will be around 4.5 to 5.3 percent, supported by increased private consumption, strong exports and maintained public purchasing power amid rising inflation.
Source: Xinhua
