A day after Governor Perry Warjiyo was sworn into office, Bank Indonesia announced the monetary policy board will meet this week, about a month before its next regular monthly scheduled one. Past Moves“Looking at the global trend, particularly the possibility of further increases in U.S. interest rate, I think Bank Indonesia will certainly increase its key rate,” said Andry Asmoro, an economist at PT Bank Mandiri in Jakarta. “We still maintain our forecast that Bank Indonesia will increase its rate twice this year and once next year.”If past experience is anything to go by, a rate hike is on the cards. The central bank has had two unscheduled meetings in the past decade, in November 2014 and August 2013, and raised rates both times. With key economic indicators much stronger now, the central bank doesn’t need to take the same tough approach.

Source: The Star May 28, 2018 03:45 UTC