Jakarta. The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) has announced that the monthly inflation rate in October 2023 has dropped to 0.17 percent, a slight slowdown from the previous month's rate of 0.19 percent. The year-on-year inflation rate stands at 2.56 percent, in line with the central bank target.

Rice prices started to decrease in October following their peak in September. In the previous month, there was a 5.61 percent increase in rice prices, contributing to 0.18 percent of the monthly inflation. Conversely, chili and non-subsidized fuel prices saw a rise throughout October.

"The largest contributors to monthly inflation are rice with a 0.06 percent inflation contribution, gasoline with a 0.04 percent contribution, birds' eye chili with a 0.03 percent contribution, and air transportation fares with a 0.02 percent contribution," said Deputy for Distribution and Service Statistics at BPS, Pudji Ismartini, on Wednesday.

Out of the 90 cities monitored by BPS, 69 cities experienced inflation, while 21 cities faced deflation. As many as 42 cities had inflation rates higher than the national average. The highest inflation was recorded in Gorontalo at 1 percent, while the deepest deflation occurred in Tual at 1.08 percent.

Government-administered prices experienced 0.46 percent inflation with a contribution of 0.09 percent to September inflation. The main contributors were gasoline, air transportation fares, and drinking water tariffs. The volatile price component saw a 0.21 percent inflation rate with a contribution of 0.03 percent.

Bank Indonesia's primary target is to maintain inflation within the target range of 3 percent plus minus 1 percentage point for the year 2023 and 2.5 percent plus minus 1 percentage point for next year.