On-year inflation at 7.42% in June: BPS<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
On-year inflation rose to 7.42 percent in June on the back of
\nalready rising cigarette prices ahead of the government's plan to
\nhike their retail prices this month, official figures from the
\nCentral Statistics Agency (BPS) show.<\/p>\n
In announcing the results of the latest Consumer Price Index
\n(CPI) on Friday, the agency reported that the prices of goods and
\nservices increased by 0.5 percent in June from May.<\/p>\n
Prices rose 7.42 percent from their levels in June last year.<\/p>\n
The prices of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages rose 4.75
\npercent, the highest increase of all commodity groups. The
\nincrease in cigarette prices accounted for about 38 percent of
\nJune's overall inflation.<\/p>\n
"It appears that the government's plan to raise the retail
\nprices of cigarettes has already had a psychological effect on
\ninflation, although the hike itself will only come into effect
\nthis July," BPS chief Choiril Maksum said.<\/p>\n
The government will raise cigarette retail prices by 15
\npercent starting in July to meet its excise revenue target of Rp
\n31.4 trillion this year, as well as to discourage smoking.<\/p>\n
Anticipating the hike, Indonesia's largest cigarette maker, PT
\nGudang Garam, said it had already raised the prices of its
\nproducts by an average of 2.7 percent.<\/p>\n
Inflation during the first semester of the year stands at 4.28
\npercent, more than half the 7.5 percent inflation rate targeted
\nby the government for the entire year in the 2005 revised budget.<\/p>\n
On-year inflation had eased over the past two months to 7.4
\npercent in May, after shooting up to 8.81 percent in March,
\nfollowing the government's decision to raise domestic fuel prices
\nby an average of 29 percent.<\/p>\n
Choiril said June's inflation rate was also the result of
\nacross-the-board price increases, particularly the prices of
\nprocessed food.<\/p>\n
BPS said the prices of processed food -- which includes
\ncigarettes -- increased by 1.17 percent in June, accounting for
\nnearly half of the month's inflation of 0.21 percent.<\/p>\n
Prices of staple foods rose 0.5 percent, accounting for 0.15
\npercent of June's inflation.<\/p>\n
Household and transportation costs, as well as public spending
\nfor clothing, health care and education services, rose by less
\nthan 0.5 percent and accounted for less than 0.1 percent to
\nJune's inflation.<\/p>\n
Choiril said BPS did not detect any impact on the inflation
\nrate from the recent weakening of the rupiah against the U.S.
\ndollar.<\/p>\n
The rupiah continued its week-long slide against the
\ngreenback, closing at Rp 9,770 to the dollar from Rp 9,758 on
\nThursday. With an economy driven mainly by consumer spending, a
\nweaker rupiah would raise the prices of imported goods, further
\nfueling inflation.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-year-inflation-at-742-in-june-bps-1447893297",
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