Indonesia Keeps Interest Rates Unchanged

(RTTNews) - Indonesia's central bank kept its policy rates unchanged, as widely expected, at the first meeting of the year.

The Board of Governors of Bank Indonesia, led by Governor Perry Warjiyo, decided to hold the seven-day reverse repo rate at 6.00 percent.

The deposit facility rate was maintained at 5.25 percent and the lending facility rate at 6.75 percent.

ING economist Nicholas Mapa said the bank is likely to remain on hold at 6 percent for the first half of the year but will likely shift to accommodation once the US Federal Reserve starts cutting policy rates.

The central bank forecast the economy to grow in the range of 4.7 percent to 5.5 percent this year, underpinned by domestic demand.

The BI said it will continue to strengthen pro-stability monetary policy and strengthen policy synergy with the government to ensure inflation remains within the target of 1.5 percent to 3.5 percent in 2024.

The bank repeated that it will continue with its currency stabilization measures.