Indonesia’s inflation rate eased in April on lower prices of fuel and basic food commodities, the official Statistics Agency said Monday, Nasdaq reported. The agency said the year-over-year increase in the prices of goods and services at the consumer level was 3.60% in April compared with 4.45% in March. On a sequential basis, prices fell 0.45% in the latest month after rising 0.19% in March from February. Lower fuel prices led to a 1.60% sequential decline in transportation costs in April, the agency said. Rice prices fell 1.2% from a month earlier as some areas in the country started the harvest season. The agency said meat prices dropped 1.5% from March. The year-over-year core inflation rate, which excludes volatile and administrative price components, eased further to 3.41% in April from 3.50% in March. Indonesia’s central bank targets inflation at 3-5% this year. It has cut the benchmark rate three times this year, by 75 basis points in total, as inflation has stayed within its target range.
