Inflation down 0.45% in March amid food price fall
Inflation down 0.45% in March amid food price fall
JAKARTA (JP): Inflation fell by 0.45 percent in March compared
to the previous month on the back of falling prices of food and
processed food commodities, according to the Central Bureau of
Statistics (BPS).
BPS Chairman Sugito Suwito said on Monday that year-on-year
inflation fell 1.1 percent during the month compared to the same
period last year.
"The deflation was caused by falling prices of food and
processed food products," Sugito told a press conference.
He pointed out that prices of basic food commodities including
rice, red pepper, vegetables and chicken fell by 2.28 percent,
while prices of processed food, beverages, and cigarettes by 0.09
percent.
The price of rice dropped significantly last month due to the
start of the harvest period.
But Sugito said other prices increased last month, including
housing cost by 0.42 percent, clothing 0.12 percent, health cost
0.26 percent, education 0.94 percent, and transport and
communications by 0.3 percent.
Sugito expected inflation this month to remain low because the
government had delayed the planned increase in fuel prices.
He said that although the government increased the electricity
tariff this month, the impact on inflation would be felt in the
following months.
"It's still possible to see another deflation this month," he
said.
President Abdurrahman Wahid decided to postpone the planned 12
percent increase in fuel prices last week amid protests and
concerns over possible abuse in fuel subsidies for the poor and
public transportation.
The government planned to provide subsidies for poor families
to purchase kerosene and for the public transportation firms to
purchase gasoline and automotive diesel fuel.
The Central Bank has said that inflation for this year would
range between 5-7 percent if the government realized its plans to
raise fuel and electricity prices.
Sugito, however, admitted inflation in April would not be as
low as the March level, particularly after the government already
raised civil servant salaries by 30 percent late last week and
hiked the electricity tariff also by 30 percent.
Export
BPS reported that exports rose 5.49 percent in February to
US$4.61 billion from $4.37 billion in January.
But the agency said that the exports jumped by 44.7 percent
when compared to $3.19 billion during the same month last year.
BPS said that imports in February declined by 2.3 percent to
$2.08 billion from the level in the previous month.
BPS said that this led to a 13 percent increase in trade
surplus to $2.53 billion from the level in January.
Sugito said that the jump in exports were particularly driven
by higher non-oil and gas exports, raising a fresh hopes that the
economy would fully recover within the next few months after
suffering a major setback due to the crisis.
He said that non-oil and gas exports rose to $3.51 billion in
February from $3.24 billion in the previous month and $2.62
billion in the same period in 1999.
He also said that non-oil and gas imports including raw
materials for manufacturing sector increased slightly to $1.73
billion from $1.72 billion in the previous month, while oil and
gas imports declined by 13 percent to $350 million. (rei)