BI's top woman fights inflation with more than just interest rates

Jakarta

ROSMAYA Hadi enlisted the help of 2,000 religious leaders to fight inflation when she ran Indonesia's central bank in West Java region.

In the world's largest Muslim country, Ms Hadi got them to spread a message of moderation in mosques on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr festival last year, when Indonesians usually step up spending on food and gift-giving to mark the end of the month of fasting. According to her, they preached: Don't shop excessively, don't buy things at any price, it is good to haggle.

"People may not listen if it's the central bank speaking, so we had to find new approaches and rel…