JAKARTA: Annual inflation in Indonesia likely to be eased to 7.50 percent in January from 8.36 percent in December 2014 after domestic fuel prices fell on sliding global oil prices, a Reuters poll showed here the other day.
The median forecast of 15 analysts in the poll was for month-on-month inflation to cool to 0.26 percent in January from 2.46 percent in December. One analyst forecast deflation.
Inflation spiked late last year after President Joko Widodo hiked subsidised fuel prices in November. But in January, he managed to cut fuel prices while scrapping subsidies for gasoline due to the fall in global oil prices.
Analysts also penciled in a sharp contraction in Indonesia’s exports with the median estimate showing a fall of 16 percent in December from a year earlier. Imports were also expected to fall 9.41 percent from a year earlier.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy was expected to post a $0.11 billion trade surplus in December, the poll showed.
Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo has predicted annual inflation of 7.5 percent and a modest trade surplus of more than $100 million.
