BAPPENAS PREDICTS ANOTHER INFLATION THIS MONTH

Jakarta, May 29 (ANTARA) - The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) has renewed its projection of the inflation rate in May, but it was predicted that it would be lower than that in last year's corresponding period.

Bappenas' micro planning director Bambang Prijambodo said in Jakarta Thursday the inflation pressure was caused by a number of factors affecting domestic prices, such as demands following general election spendings in 2009, and food price hikes.

"But we believe that the inflation rate is still within the well controlled range so that this is a good chance to suppress the inflation rate, and reached 5 percent by the end of the year, and may even be lower," he said..

He said that the stability of the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar in the transitional stage through imports in import inflation to other reasons, is the still maintained inflation this month.