Inflation reached 9.35 percent in December: Statistics Bureau
JAKARTA (JP): Inflation in 2000 reached 9.35 percent compared to the government's initial target of between 5 percent and 7 percent, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) announced on Wednesday.
Bureau chief Soedarti Surbakti said inflation increased 1.94 percent in December compared to the previous month, particularly due to higher food prices.
"The inflation was caused by an increase in the consumer price index of several products and services," she said in a media conference.
The government had targeted an inflation of between five percent and seven percent for 2000, but in September, due to the weakening of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar and the fuel price increase, BPS forewarned that inflation could well be in the range of between eight percent and nine percent.
Soedarti said special occasions, like the fasting month of Ramadhan, and the Christmas and Idul Fitri holidays in December had caused the increase in the prices of consumer products.
Soedarti said the largest contributors to December's inflation were food commodities, processed food, beverages, cigarettes and tobacco, housing, clothing, health care, education, recreation and sports, and transportation and telecommunications.
Prices for food commodities increased 5.09 percent during the month, while prices of processed food, cigarettes and tobacco rose 0.77 percent, the bureau reported.
Housing prices increased by 0.37 percent; clothing prices by 2.81 percent, health care by 0.41 percent; education, recreation and sports by 0.39 percent; and transportation and telecommunications by 1.16 percent.
Exports
BPS also said that while the overall figure of Indonesia's exports had increased by 28.23 percent to US$56.65 billion between January and November 2000 compared to the same period in the previous year, exports in November had declined by 7.52 percent.
Total exports in November dropped to $5.07 billion compared to $5.48 billion in October due to a drop in the exports of both oil and gas as well as nonoil and gas products, Soedarti said.
Exports of nonoil and gas products declined 8.85 percent to $3.79 billion compared to the previous month, she said.
Soedarti said the decline was caused by a decrease in the exports of machinery and electrical appliances, rubber and rubber products, aircraft components, plastics and plastic products, as well as paper and cardboard.
"A sharp decline in November was evident in the exports to Singapore, while exports to South Korea increased significantly," Soedarti said.
Nonoil and gas exports to Singapore dropped to $449 million in November from $563.5 million the previous month, the bureau said. Exports of the same products to South Korea increased to $129.4 million from $103 million.
"Cumulatively, the United States remains our biggest market with total exports of $7.23 billion between January and November, followed by Japan with total exports of $6.67 billion for the same period," Soedarti said.
Oil and gas exports had also decreased by 3.32 percent to $1.3 billion in November from $1.28 billion the previous month, the bureau reported.
The fluctuating export value of oil and gas is affected largely by the price of Indonesian oil in international markets, which in November had dropped to $31.14 per barrel from $32.04 per barrel in October, it said.
Imports in November totaled $3.55 billion, a 2.74 percent increase from $3.45 billion in October, the bureau said. For the period between January and November 2000, imports increased by 37.88 percent to $30.12 billion compared to the same period in 1999.
Nonoil and gas imports in November reached $2.96 billion, an increase of 2.83 percent from the previous month, and increased by 31.86 percent to $24.46 billion from January to November, 2000 compared to the same period in 1999.
"Between January and November, the biggest contributor for nonoil and gas imports came from machinery, and aircraft components, which accounted for 16.86 percent of all nonoil and gas imports," Soedarti said.
The bureau said imports of consumer goods between January and November 2000 increased 0.21 percent to $2.19 billion compared to the same period in 1999, while imports of raw material and capital goods increased by 36.56 percent and 51.11 percent respectively.
Tourist arrivals through the 13 main points of entry fell by 2.92 percent to 358,616 in November compared to the previous month's figures.
From January to November, the number of tourist was recorded at 3.8 million, or 6.07 percent higher than the number visiting the country during the same period in 1999, the bureau said. (tnt)