Please look at this in detail, what caused this, so that we can solve it together and it can decline to below 5 percent, would be better (if) it can be below 3 percentJakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has asked the leaders of five regions with the highest inflation rate to look into the causes in detail so that the inflation rate can be brought down to 5 percent.
According to Widodo, the five provinces with the highest inflation rate are Jambi (8.55 percent), West Sumatra (8.01 percent), Bangka Belitung (7.77 percent), Riau (7.04 percent), and Aceh (6.97 percent).
"Please look at this in detail, what caused this, so that we can solve it together and it can decline to below 5 percent, would be better (if) it can be below 3 percent," he said at the Merdeka Palace, here on Thursday.
Related news: Food prices now relatively stable: Minister Hartarto
He urged regional heads from the city to provincial levels to look into the factors behind the inflation, which is currently plaguing all countries in the midst of a food crisis.
Regional leaders must cooperate with the Regional Inflation Control Team and the Central Inflation Control Team to continuously determine which food commodities are causing inflation, Widodo said.
Through such coordination, commodities that are abundant in one area can be distributed to areas that are experiencing price increases, he explained.
"I believe that the cooperation that I mentioned earlier, provinces, districts, cities, inflation control teams, (if) everything works, (then the task would be) finished, to (help inflation decline) it to a number below three, (it will be done), since our people also have the (means to do this)," he remarked.
Related news: Jokowi asks regional govts to fight inflation along with TPIP, TPIDs
On the same occasion, Governor of Bank Indonesia, Perry Warjiyo, said that inflation in July 2022 had reached 4.94 percent year-on-year (yoy), which, though lower compared to other countries, exceeded the upper limit of the target of 3 percent plus minus 1 percent.
The increase was mainly due to high inflation in the food group, which reached 11.47 percent (yoy); it ideally should not have been more than 5 percent or a maximum of 6 percent.
Overall, Indonesia's inflation rate is still rather manageable compared to other countries, such as the United States, where it has reached 8.5 percent, the European Union, which has reported inflation of 8.9 percent, and even Turkey, where inflation has touched 79.6 percent.
Related news: Government to seek balance in terms of expensive airfares: Minister
Related news: Jokowi asks minister to review APBN resilience as subsidy burden rises
Translator: Mentari D G, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
