"I am convinced that the price decline will boost the people's purchasing power," he stated at the Johar Baru Market, Jakarta, on Wednesday.
The president was accompanied by Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan to inspect essential goods' stocks and prices at Rawamangun Market, East Jakarta, and Johar Baru Market, Central Jakarta.
President Jokowi stated that the prices of eggs, chicken meat, rice, and onions had declined. However, he noted that some items, such as meat, had also experienced an increase in price.
He stated that the price decline presented a positive trend to the people ahead of the high consumption momentum during this year's Eid al-Fitr.
"Prices declining ahead of Eid is indeed a good trend," the president stated.
Based on data provided by Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the March 2023 inflation was recorded at only 0.18 percent (month to month/mtm) that shows just a scrimp of increase compared to the previous month's inflation at 0.16 mtm.
In fact, the start of the inflation period coincided with the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadhan.
Bank of Indonesia (BI) stated that the March 2023 inflation was lower than the inflation's historical pattern of the early days of Ramadan.
These developments drove the annual consumer price index to fall to 4.97 percent (year on year/yoy) as compared to the previous month's inflation at 5.47 percent yoy.
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Translator: Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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