JAKARTA: Indonesia’s central bank on Thursday kept its policy rate unchanged, as expected, saying its stance was sufficient to support the economy and pledged to keep the rupiah currency in line with fundamentals.
The decision came shortly after the Federal Reserve, as anticipated, hiked US rates. Central banks in New Zealand, the Philippines and Taiwan also held their policy rates on Thursday.
The central bank said it expected first quarter economic growth to be better than one year earlier. BI is targeting GDP growth of 5.1-5.5 per cent this year, still well below President Joko Widodo’s target of 7 per cent annual growth.
BI said it remains aware of the “increasing risk of global financial market uncertainty” and will keep taking steps to”stabilize the exchange rate in accordance with its fundamental value while maintaining market mechanisms.” Central bank officials have said BI is committed to maintaining a presence in the foreign-exchange market to stabilise the rupiah, but said room for further easing of monetary policy is limited.
The deposit facility and lending facility rate were also unchanged, at 3.50 per cent and 5.00 per cent, respectively.
Some economists say BI will eventually have to follow the Fed and hike rates to support the rupiah, which this month fell to 13,800 to the US dollar, its weakest in more than two years.
But so far, inflation is in check, helping BI hold the key rate as it tries to help boost sluggish lending and growth. Annual credit expansion was single-digit in 2017, while tepid consumption kept growth from rising to much above 5 per cent.
Indonesia’s loans at the end of January were 7.4 per cent larger than a year earlier, the financial regulator said on Thursday, down from 8.35 per cent in December 2017.
