We were surprised to learn that Indonesia’s central bank (Bank Indonesia) decided to leave its interest rates unchanged at the two-day monetary policy meeting on 23-24 May 2022. The benchmark BI 7-Day Reverse Repo Rate was kept at 3.50 percent, while the deposit facility and lending facility rates were maintained at 2.75 percent and 4.25 percent, respectively. We had expected Bank Indonesia to raise its key rate by 0.25 percent to 3.75 percent at this occasion.

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With the Ramadan month just having started, it is important to take a look at food prices in Indonesia. The Ramadan-Idul Fitri period is typically a period when prices rise amid a significant increase in demand.

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In the last week of December 2021, Perry Warjiyo, Governor of Indonesia’s central bank (Bank Indonesia), sent a strong signal to markets that the benchmark interest rate of Indonesia (seven-day reverse repo rate) will not be raised before Q3-2022. This is much later than we initially expected.

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Indonesia’s benchmark stock index (Jakarta Composite Index, or IHSG) grew 10.08 percent in full-year 2021, a good performance after a volatile and highly uncertain 2020 when the COVID-19 crisis emerged. At around 6,580 points on the first trading day of 2022, the index remains at near-record high territory (with the record being set recently, in mid-November 2021, at around 6,750 points).

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