According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) office chief in Jember, Nela Octaviana, speaking here on Monday, it was only a rumour that staple food prices had been crawling up due to the fuel price hike.
"This could increase regional inflation rates in Jember," she said.
As previously reported, the government is planning to raise the fuel price shortly; this was necessary due to the tensions in the Middle East, which made the world oil price rise to nearly 115 US dollars per barrel.
Nela said that the fuel hike would result in price rises in several commodities; the inflation rate would also increase.
"It is certain that the rising of national fuel prices would trigger several areas inflation rates to increase, but I'm still unsure about the figure," she noted.
The vice president of Bank Indonesia in Jember`s office, Dwi Suslamanto, also expressed similar views on regional Inflation.
"When the public heard about the fuel price hike`s discourse, contributors to commodity inflation are slowly creeping up, although the government has not set when the fuel price increase will be applied," he commented.
Therefore, the inflation rate team controlling must perform a variety of strategic measures to curb inflation in Jember.
The inflation rate in Jember in January 2012 stood at 0.28 per cent; vegetables, especially tomatoes, contributed to the highest inflation rate of 6.76 per cent.
(SYS/A050/Y008)
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
