Gov't to Delay Planned Price Increases to Limit Inflation: Minister
Jakarta. The government will delay all planned price increases until after the Idul Fitri celebration this year to help control inflation, a cabinet minister said on Wednesday (03/05).
Annual inflation rose to a 13-month high in April, at 4.17 percent, mainly due to increasing electricity tariffs, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said on Tuesday.
"We will not raise prices of LPG [liquefied petroleum gas], electricity and fuel until after Idul Fitri," Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Darmin Nasution told reporters after a limited cabinet meeting with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
Idul Fitri, which marks the end of Ramadan, falls at the end of June this year.
Inflation typically picks up in the Muslim majority country during the fasting month as people stock up on food, buy new clothes and travel to their hometowns.
Darmin said the delay was meant to maintain inflation "at around 4 percent or slightly above 4 percent" at the end of this year.
The central bank has a target for inflation this year to stay in a range of 3 percent-5 percent.
Reuters
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