Indonesia's inflation at 18-month high in December

[JAKARTA] Indonesia's annual inflation rate hit an 18-month high in December, reaching 1.87 per cent, driven by rising prices of foodstuff and plane tickets, data issued by the country's statistics bureau showed on Monday.

A Reuters poll had expected a rate of 1.80 per cent in December. The previous month's inflation rate was 1.75 per cent.

Bank Indonesia is targetting inflation to be within a range of 2 per cent to 4 per cent for 2021 and 2022.

The December core inflation rate, excluding government-controlled and volatile prices, rose to 1.56 per cent, from 1.44 per cent in November. The poll had expected 1.52 per cent.

REUTERS