Inflation in March Remains In Check: BPS

Inflation in March this year is under control because price hike of commodities is generally lower than price hike in the previous months, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has reported.

“Based on the BPS survey in 90 cities, inflation in March 2020 is 0.10%. Thus, year to date inflation rate is 0.76% and year to year inflation from March 2019 to March 2020 is 2.96%,” BPS Head Suhariyanto said in an online press conference, Wednesday (1/4).

According to Suhariyanto, out of 90 cities, 43 cities reported inflation and 47 cities reported deflation.

“The highest inflation rate in March was reported in Lhokseumawe (in Aceh province) (0.64%). The main factor was the price hike of various types of fish and jewelry,” Suhariyanto said.

The highest deflation, he added, was reported in Timika, (-1.91%) with the main factor being lower airfare generating 0.77% deflation.

“If we compare inflation in March this year with that of February, we will see that inflation in March is 0.10% lower than inflation in February 2020 which was 0.28%,” he said, adding that year to year inflation rate in March is also lower than that of February.

“One important factor is that we will enter the fasting month of Ramadan at the end of April. Therefore, we should be ready to maintain goods supply and distribution so that the prices will remain stable” Suhariyanto said, adding that the Government last year successfully controlled inflation during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.

Suhariyanto added that inflation in March 2020 was generated from 11 price indexes. According to him, there are two price indexes that experienced deflation, namely transportation index (0.43%) and communication, informatics and financial services index (0.09%).

Other price indexes, he added, had a relatively low inflation with the highest inflation recorded in personal care price index and other services price index.

“The food, beverage and tobacco price index generate 0.03% inflation,” he said.

Suhariyanto further explained commodities that contributed to the inflation are as follows:

First, price hike of broiler eggs that generates 0.03% inflation.

Second, price hike of onions that generates 0.03% inflation.

Third, price hike of sugar that generates 0.02% inflation.

Fourth, price hike of clove cigarettes and white cigarettes that generate 0.01% inflation.

“On the other hand, there are commodities that reported price decline, thus contributing to deflation in price index, including the price of red chili pepper which has significantly declined, generating 0.09% deflation while cayenne pepper generated 0.04% deflation,” Suhariyanto explained.

Suhariyanto went on to say that the transportation price index deflation in March 2020 is 0.43%, with its contribution to general deflation is 0.05%.

“The main factor of deflation in the price index is a drop in airfare which generates 0.26% deflation,” he said.

The BPS Head added that inflation in the food, beverage and restaurant price index was 0.36% which generates 0.03% general inflation. The commodities that contributed to inflation were rice and side dishes, he added.

“For core inflation, the biggest contributors were gold and jewelry (0.05%), onions (0.03%), and sugar (0.02%). We know that gold price is influenced by international price fluctuation,” Suhariyanto said, adding that the administrated price experienced 0.19% deflation with 0.03% contribution to general deflation.

“The airfare generates 0.06% deflation although there was still an increase in clove cigarettes and filter cigarettes which contributed to 0.01% inflation,” he said.

Suhariyanto went on to say that the floating price index deflation was generated by price decline in various commodities such as red chili pepper and cayenne pepper.

“All in all, inflation rate in March 2020 is 0.10%. The main factors for the inflation are the price hike of gold and jewelry, broiler eggs, onions, and sugar,” he said, adding that the commodities that reported deflation were red chili pepper, airfare, and cayenne pepper. (TGH/EN)

Translated by: Ridwan Ibadurrohman
Reviewed by: Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas