Jakarta, (ANTARA News) - Head of the Central Bureau of Statistics Suhariyanto stated in Jakarta on Monday that the national inflation rate continue to be under control and will be so until the end of the year.

He also noted that it can reach the target of 3.5 percent, as seen from the inflation rate from January to September 2018, which was recorded to be at 1.94 percent, and the year-on-year inflation at 2.88 percent.

"This year`s inflation is considerably controlled, which can be seen through the year-on-year inflation. The average number until September this year is lower compared to the same months in 2017 and 2016, with 3.72 percent and 3.07 percent, respectively," Suhariyanto noted in a press conference in Jakarta on Monday.

He believed that the efforts to stabilize prices of food commodities carried out throughout the year have made a significant contribution to inflation control.

"We hope it can continue to be under control in the next three months. We also hope that there will not be any increases in the price of food and demand for goods during the Christmas and New Year period," he added.

The Bureau previously noted that there had been a deflation of 0.18 percent in September 2018 due to the decreasing price of a number of food commodities.

A number of foodstuffs that experienced price decline in this period included broiler meat, shallots, fresh fish, broiler eggs, tomatoes, red chili, and cayenne pepper (cabai rawit).

On the other hand, the price of rice experienced an increase of 0.29 percent as it is entering the planting season with production showing a slight decrease.

However, Suhariyanto is confident that the reserves from the Indonesian Bureau of Logistics (Bulog) is now better compared to last year and can address the high prices of rice.

Reporting by Satyagraha
Editing by Aria Cindyara, Bustanudin ARC/A/KR-BSR/B003) 01-10-2018 19:55:47

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