BI Rate Too High, Says Govt

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The government viewed that current BI Rate of 7.5 percent was considerably high and reflected Indonesia’s economic condition. However, Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil said that BI might be able to adjust its rate if the inflation rate could be suppressed. 

Earlier, Sofyan said that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had received reports suggesting a good banking condition. 

However, the government could not just interfere to adjust BI rate since the absolute authority lies in BI’s hands. Sofyan said the government could help create a favorable situation by ensuring food sufficiency, reasonable logistics cost and improved infrastructures. 

During a visit to the Investment Coordinating Board’s (BKPM) office on Tuesday, February 24, 2015, Vice President Jusuf “JK” Kalla mentioned that the investment was too high due to skyrocketing loan interest rate.

Currently, the interest rate for loans is at around 10-13 percent and even higher for micro and consumption loans. Therefore, the government agreed with BI’s move to reduce BI Rate to 7.5 percent. 

“We want to encourage banks to lower the interest rate for loans,” Kalla said. 

AYU PRIMA SANDI