Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo has said that inflation was recorded at 0.12 percent in the third week of April, while year-on-year inflation stood at 3.44 percent.  

Agus said in Jakarta on Thursday that the increase in the prices of red onions, red chili and garlic would contribute significantly to the April inflation, but he expressed optimism that the inflation would still be in the range of the BI estimate – between 2.5 to 4.5 percent – by the end of 2018.

Previously, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded that inflation stood at 0.2 percent in March, slightly higher than the 0.17 percent recorded in February, while year-on-year inflation was at 3.4 percent.

Agus said the country’s economic growth was gradually improving, supported by improvements in household consumption, investment and exports.

“Government investment in infrastructure continues to increase. The private sector has also started to invest. We see household consumption has started to contribute to [economic growth],” Agus said as quoted by kontan.co.id.

The central bank estimated that the high import growth in April could spark a trade deficit in the same month. However, Agus said he believed that imports would be used for productive activities as most of them would be in the form of raw materials for industry.

“Generally, based on the BI analysis, the Indonesian economy is improving, although the global economy is highly dynamic,” Agus said. (bbn)