Indonesia’s March inflation rate at highest in 7 months

[JAKARTA] Indonesia’s inflation accelerated more than expected in March, with both headline and core inflation surpassing the previous month’s pace of increase.

The largest economy in South-east Asia saw consumer price index (CPI) jump to 3.05 per cent (year on year) in March from 2.75 per cent in February, marking the highest level in the past seven months, as reported by the Statistics Data Bureau on Monday (April 1).

March’s inflation data was also higher than Bloomberg analysts’ forecast of 2.88 per cent, and indicates that pricing pressures are edging towards the top-end of the central bank’s inflation target for the year, which ranges from 1.5 to 3.5 per cent.