Fasting and Eid al-Fitr 2017, June Inflation Reaches 0.69%

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded an inflation rate of 0.69 percent throughout June 2017. This figure is higher than the same month in 2016, which was 0.66 percent. This month's inflation is the second highest in 2017; the highest occurred in January, at 0.97 percent.

Meanwhile, calendar year inflation (January-June 2017) reached 2.38 percent, and year-on-year inflation was 4.37 percent, higher than the previous year's 3.45 percent. The main cause of inflation in June was the increase in food prices throughout Ramadan and Idul Fitri. Food inflation reached 0.69 percent, contributing 0.14 percent to total monthly inflation. Of the 82 cities monitored by BPS, 79 experienced inflation and only 3 experienced deflation.

This month's inflation rate is higher than several parties' predictions. Previously, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Darmin Nasution estimated that the inflation rate throughout Ramadan or June this year would only be 0.39 percent. This projection shows the lowest figure since 2007, or in the last decade. However, the policy of controlling food prices has not been able to suppress the inflation rate during the 2017 fasting and Eid al-Fitr season.