Inflation hits double digit

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's annual inflation rate was 11.05 percent last year, the first double-digit inflation rate since 1983.

The Central Bureau of Statistics said yesterday that the high annual inflation rate in 1997 was attributed to the 2.04 percent increase in the monthly inflation rate in December.

The annual inflation rate was checked at 11.46 percent in 1983 but it declined to between 4.94 percent and 9.5 percent in following years until 1996.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the inflation rate in 19997 was much higher than the 6.47 percent inflation rate recorded in 1996.

The high monthly rate in December was caused by a rise in the price index of food, housing and clothing.

Food prices rose 3.55 percent in December, housing by 0.88 percent, clothing by 2.1 percent and miscellaneous goods and services by 1.48 percent.

In 1997, food prices surged 11.05 percent from 6.12 percent in 1996, while housing rose 18.45 percent from 4.72 percent and clothing increased 7.67 percent from 5.77 percent.

However, prices of miscellaneous goods and services declined to 8.11 percent last year from 9.69 percent in 1996.

The bureau said a drastic rise in the price of rice contributed to the high increase in food prices.

It said the price of rice had increased by between 0.27 percent in Ambon, Maluku, and 10.63 percent in Semarang, Central Java, in December.

The price increase contributed about 0.34 percent to inflation in December, the bureau said.

It said Medan, North Sumatra, experienced the highest inflation at 3.23 percent in December, compared to other Indonesian cities.

It was followed by Yogyakarta at 3.21 percent and Palembang, South Sumatra, at 3.15 percent.

On the contrary, Samarinda, East Kalimantan, experienced deflation at 0.08 percent, Pekanbaru, Riau, at 0.15 percent, Bengkulu at 1.15 percent and Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, at 1.22 percent. (das)