January Inflation at 0.04%; Rice Not the Main Contributor despite Price Hike

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said that the monthly inflation in January stood at 0.04 percent, a decline from December 2023's 0.41 percent. This number brings Indonesia's year-on-year inflation rate to 2.57 percent.

"The monthly inflation rate was 0.04 percent, which means there was an increase in the consumer price index from 105.15 in December 2003 to 105.19 in January 2024," BPS acting chief Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti said in a press conference on Thursday, February 1.

According to Amalia, fewer factors contributed to inflation in January compared to last month as the Christmas and New Year holidays have ended. Another reason is the lower price of non-subsidized fuel, in effect since January 1.

The biggest contributor to monthly inflation in January was the food, beverage and tobacco group with inflation of 0.18 percent. More specifically, food commodities—especially tomatoes (0.09 percent), shallots (0.04 percent), and rice (0.03 percent)—were the main contributors to inflation.

While rice, as one of Indonesia's staple commodities, recorded an inflation of 0.64 percent, it only factored in 0.03 percent to the overall inflation rate.

"Rice prices in 10 other provinces have shown a decline. All provinces on the islands of Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara experienced rice price hikes," Amalia said.

Meanwhile, some food commodities also contributed to deflation in January 2024, especially bird's eye chili with a deflation of 0.11 percent and air transportation rates of 0.09 percent, she added.

In total, 25 out of 38 provinces experienced inflation. "The highest inflation of 1.01 percent was recorded in Papua Highlands Province. The deepest deflation was recorded in Gorontalo Province at 0.91 percent," she said.

Adinda Jasmine Prasetyo

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