SBI rate down to 14.78%

SBI rate down to 14.78%

JAKARTA: The weighted average interest rate on the benchmark
one-month SBI promissory notes fell at an auction Wednesday from
a week ago, the central bank said.

The rate on one-month SBI notes stood at 14.78 percent, down
from 14.87 percent at last week's auction, Bank Indonesia said.

Bank Indonesia said it accepted Rp 20 trillion (US$2.25
billion), or 78.34 percent of the total bids received at the
auction.

Bank Indonesia has been trying to drive domestic interest
rates lower to help reduce the cost of servicing the debt taken
by the government to bail out local banks after the 1997 Asian
financial crisis.

Easing inflationary pressure has allowed the central bank to
guide interest rate lower.

Bank Indonesia officials have said the central bank aims to
drive the SBI benchmark rate down to between 13.5 percent and 14
percent by the end of the year. -- Dow Jones