Indonesia central bank deputy gov says Nov inflation could come in at 5.5%

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s headline inflation in November could come in at 5.5%, or lower than previous month when headline inflation was 5.71%, its deputy governor said on Friday, citing Bank Indonesia’s latest survey.

“(5.5%) is still high and still needs policies to manage that, but actually we are in a relatively better position than other countries,” Deputy Governor Dody Budi Waluyo said at a book launch event.

BI’s inflation target is a range of 2-4%. In September, inflation reached nearly 6% or the highest in seven years.

Referring to BI’s key interest rate, Dody said while the current rate of 5.25% was “quite high”, BI was taking into account the effect of tightening monetary policy on economic recovery.

At BI’s policy meeting on Thursday, BI raised its key interest rate by 50 basis points for a third consecutive month and pledged to strengthen its response to “high” inflation expectations.

(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by Ed Davies)