The Jakarta Post
Indonesia’s annual inflation rate slowed in January, after a rally in the last four months, as the country’s ongoing struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic and extended lockdown limited consumers’ purchasing power. The country’s consumer price index (CPI) in January fell by 1.55 percent year-on-year (yoy), the lowest since November, as income and demand were strained by the health crisis, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Monday. The inflation rate was below Bank Indonesia’s (BI) target range of 2 to 4 percent this year. On a month-to-month basis, the CPI rose by 0.26 percent. January’s inflation was driven by price hikes in volatile commodities, namely cayenne pepper, fresh fish, tempeh and tofu, among other products. “Going into 2021, we see that the impact of COVID-19 has not subsided and is still casting a shadow on the economy...