Jokowi sees low inflation paving way for interest rate reductions

Singapore

INDONESIA'S success in taming consumer prices provides room for lower interest rates, President Joko Widodo said, while making it clear that it was the job of the central bank to determine whether to cut.

Inflation will average less than 4 per cent this year, down from more than 8 per cent in 2014 when he took office, Mr Joko - also known as Jokowi - said in an interview at Huta Ginjang, overlooking the picturesque Lake Toba, where he had been to open a newly upgraded airport nearby.

"It means that if inflation is low, lending rates can still fall," he added. "But again, it's not my territory. That's the territory of Bank Indones…