Small inflation rise to 0.07% recorded in February

Small inflation rise to 0.07% recorded in February

JAKARTA (JP): Inflation in February slightly increased to 0.07
percent from the previous month, but fell to minus 0.84 percent
when compared to the same month last year, the Central Bureau of
Statistics (BPS) said on Monday.

BPS chief Sugito Suwito said that prices of several
commodities continued to move upward, particularly due to the
weakening of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar during the month.

"After the Idul Fitri holiday, prices of several commodities,
particularly gold, continued to increase due to the fluctuation
in the exchange rate of the rupiah against the dollar," Sugito
told a news conference.

He said the rupiah weakened on news of a standoff between
President Abdurrahman Wahid and former armed forces commander
Gen. Wiranto.

Inflation in January jumped to 1.32 percent due to the
increase in prices of most commodities as Indonesian Muslims
celebrated the post-fasting month Idul Fitri holiday, which
coincidentally occurred shortly after Christians celebrated
Christmas, and the New Year holiday.

But Sugito said that prices of other commodities, particularly
food, declined in February after the festivities were over.

BPS reported that food prices declined 0.33 percent, cost of
education, recreation and sports fell 0.12 percent and
transportation and communications 0.13 percent.

But the bureau said that prices of processed foods, beverages,
tobacco and cigarettes increased 0.08 percent, housing 0.47
percent, clothing and jewelry 0.98 percent, and the cost of
health care 0.44 percent.

BPS said that inflation for the first two months of the year
was 1.39 percent.

The central bank forecast that inflation this year would be in
the range of 5 percent to 7 percent depending on the size of the
planned increase in several administered prices, including fuel
and electricity, and a rise in the salaries of government
employees.

BPS said that 22 major cities experienced inflation, and 21
cities experienced deflation.

It said that Ambon, the capital of riot-hit Maluku province,
recorded the highest inflation of 3.08 percent, and the town of
Kediri in East Java enjoyed the lowest level of inflation at 0.04
percent.

BPS said that the largest deflation level of minus 1.99
percent was seen in the oil and gas-rich town of Lhokseumawe in
Aceh province, and the smallest deflation level of minus 0.01
percent was recorded in the East Java town of Malang.

Sugito expected that inflation in March would fall on the back
of the start of the rice harvest.

"The usual cycle is that inflation will go up in January and
slightly up in February, but will fall in March," he said.

Exports

BPS also reported that exports in January declined 2.43
percent to US$4.36 billion from $4.47 billion in December.

But the bureau said that exports jumped 44.65 percent if
compared to the same month in 1999.

"There's an indication that export performance started to
improve in January," Sugito said.

He said that traditionally exports in January were lower than
in December, but the decline this year was less than last year's
figure.

He also said that improvement in the export performance was
also related to the stronger import performance during the month,
particularly the import of capital goods.

BPS reported that imports in January reached $2.13 billion,
slightly down from $2.14 billion in December.

But it added that imports increased 20.42 percent if compared
to the same month in 1999.

BPS reported that non-oil and gas exports in January declined
3.31 percent to $3.24 billion from the level in December, while
oil and gas exports increased 0.21 percent to $1.12 billion.

The bureau said that export in the January-December 1999
period reached $48.65 billion, or a 0.4 percent decline compared
to the same period in 1998.

BPS reported that imports of consumer goods in the January-
December 1999 period totaled $2.48 billion, or an increase of
29.48 percent from the same level in 1998.

It said that imports of raw materials in the same period fell
6.48 percent while imports of capital goods dropped 45.39
percent.

Tourist arrivals declined 10.29 percent to about 292,000 in
January from 326,000 in December, the bureau said.(rei)