BI's interest rate falls again

BI's interest rate falls again

JAKARTA: The weighted average interest rate on one-month Sertifikat Bank Indonesia notes fell slightly to 11.26 percent from 11.31 percent at a weekly auction, the central bank said on Wednesday.

The rate cut was in line with market expectations.

Bank Indonesia said it accepted Rp 24 trillion at the auction, or 75.5 percent of total bids.

The central bank has been cutting rates as inflationary pressure abates to help reduce the government's bank bailout costs and stimulate economic growth. -- Dow Jones

British unemployment edges up 1,800

LONDON: Unemployment in Britain inched up by 1,800 during March to 939,900, official figures showed on Wednesday, continuing a weak trend which is defying the global economic gloom.

The small increase left the jobless rate steady at 3.1 percent, the National Statistics office said.

The International Labor Organization's broader measure of unemployment fell by 22,000 in the three months to February from the previous quarter to 1.49 million.

The ILO figure equates to an unemployment rate of 5.1 percent, a 0.1 percentage point fall from the three months to January.

The annual growth rate of headline average earnings fell to 3.0 percent year-on-year in the three months to February, from 3.6 percent in the quarter to January, remaining well below the Bank of England's 4.5-percent comfort level.

Unemployment remains just a little above a 27-year-low recorded in January, when the figure registered a surprise drop of 3,500. -- AFP

Malaysian consumer prices up 1.4%

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's consumer prices rose 1.4 percent in the first quarter from the same period last year, the Statistics Department said on Wednesday.

Most prices were higher in the three months to March except for clothing and footware which fell by 2.3 percent and furniture which was down by 0.5 percent, it said.

Transport and communication prices rose 3.7 percent, medical care and health expenses were up 2.2 percent and miscellaneous goods and services rose 1.8 percent.

The index rose 0.7 percent in March compared to a year earlier but fell 0.2 percent from February. -- AFP

Australian consumer sentiment soars SYDNEY, Australia: Australian consumer sentiment has surged after it became clear the war in Iraq would be over quickly, a survey showed on Wednesday.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment rose a seasonally adjusted 10.9 percent to 108.2 points in April, up from 97.6 in March.

The rise effectively brings the index back to its January level, before war dominated the economic agenda.

Westpac global head of economics Bill Evans said the April rise was the fourth largest since the survey began in 1974 and was comparable to an 11.1 percent climb after the first Gulf War in 1991. -- AFP