BI Predicts March's Inflation At 0.1 Pct

Jakarta, March 28 (Antara) - Bank Indonesia predicted that the rate of inflation in March will be about 0.1 percent, or 7.3 percent year-on-year. "The trend is indeed downward," the central bank`s deputy governor Perry Warjiuo said here on Friday. He said the downward trend was due to controlled food prices, the impact of gas price hike, which was not too large, and the appreciation of the country`s currency rupiah against the U.S. dollar. "The core inflation remains normal," he added. The bank had taken into account the possible impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon as well as disruption of food production or distribution in the prediction, he said. "We have also factored in electricity tariff hike in industries," he added. The March inflation was forecast to be lower than the inflation in March 2013, which was 0.63 percent month-on-month. Bank Indonesia is optimistic that until the end of 2014 inflation would still be within the targeted range of 3.5 to 5.5 percent.