Food Prices Soar, Raising Cause for Concern

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Destry Damayanti has urged the government to remain alert to food inflation, which has reached 5% year on year. Rising food prices warrant attention because they could erode people’s purchasing power.

Destry said she had reported the food inflation issue to the President at a meeting of the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) on Monday (19 October 2026). BI is also continuing to coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture to contain inflation in the volatile food category.

“We have reported this and are also coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture on how to keep volatile food inflation in check,” Destry said.

While food inflation is a concern, Destry stressed that Indonesia’s economy remains broadly under control, as reflected in contained core inflation.

“From the inflation figures we reported, core inflation shows that the economy remains quite under control. It was 2.8% in September,” she said.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data show that volatile food inflation reached 5.03% year on year in September 2026.

The commodities that contributed most to inflation that month included broiler chicken, bird’s eye chillies, rice and beef.

Overall, Indonesia’s inflation stood at 3.28% year on year in September 2026. On a year-to-date basis, inflation reached 2.17%.

BPS also recorded food, beverages and tobacco as one of the drivers of inflation in September 2026. Prices in this group rose by 0.88% month on month, contributing 0.26 percentage points to inflation.