BI LOWERS BENCHMARK RATE TO 7.5 PCT

Jakarta, April 3 (ANTARA) - Bank Indonesia (BI)'s Board of Governors in a meeting on Friday decided to lower the central bank's benchmark rate (locally known as BI Rate) by 25 basis points to 7.5 percent.

"After studying the current developments of global and domestic economies, we decided to lower the BI Rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 percent," BI Governor Boediono told a press conference on Friday.

He said that there was now positive sentiment in the global market, namely the agreement reached by countries grouped in the G20 on Thursday.

BI Deputy Governor Hartadi A Sarwono said the lowering of the BI Rate was in line with the downward trend of inflation in the country. "There is still a room for the benchmark rate to go down in the future," he said.

The lowering on Friday of the BI Rate was the forth of its kind the central bank has taken since January 2009. In the past three months, BI has aggressively cut its benchmark rate by 150 basis points (1.5 percent) to 7.75 percent.

BI will continue to take expansive policies in an effort to boost the development of the real sector. The economic growth is estimated at 3-4 percent and inflation at 5-7 percent in 2009.***