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Inflation rises in August after five months of decline
The annual consumer price index (CPI) rose markedly in August, after declining for five months in a row, due to higher inflation in the transportation category, as well as food, beverages and tobacco.
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Goats roam on a dried-out rice field in Jonggol village, Bogor regency, West Java, on Aug. 2, 2023. The Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency has forecast that the El Nino weather phenomenon will affect 63 percent of the country’s territory this year.
(Antara/Yulius Satria Wijaya)
The annual consumer price index (CPI) rose markedly in August, after declining for five months in a row, due to higher inflation in the transportation category, as well as food, beverages and tobacco.
The latest CPI report unveiled by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) on Friday shows that annual inflation in August clocked in at 3.27 percent, up from 3.08 percent in July and much higher than Moody’s Analytics’ prediction of 2.9 percent.
When compared with the preceding month, however, the CPI dropped by a tiny 0.02 percent in August.
“The biggest contributor to monthly deflation was the expenditure group of food, beverages and tobacco,” said BPS official Pudji Ismartini, adding that chicken, eggs and shallots in particular had contributed to the month-to-month (mtm) decline in consumer prices.
That same group, however, was also the biggest contributor to the year-on-year (yoy) CPI growth, specifically because of price increases in rice, garlic and cigarettes.
Transportation remains the largest inflation driver, and has been so for months, as prices in this spending category exceeded their year-ago level by 9.65 percent in August. Costlier gasoline and diesel, as well as higher fares are to blame.
