A worker cleans a steel construction on the new Depok-Serpong highway road on the outskirts of Jakarta on April 18. (Reuters photo)JAKARTA: Indonesia's central bank on Thursday hiked its benchmark interest rate for the first time since November 2014, as expected, in a bid to bolster the fragile rupiah. Bank Indonesia (BI) raised the 7-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 4.5%. In 2016 and 2017 combined, BI cut the key by 200 bps to try to spur lending and faster economic growth. In a Reuters poll, 13 of 21 economists had predicted a rate at Thursday's meeting, the last for governor Agus Martowardojo.

Source: Bangkok Post May 17, 2018 11:48 UTC