JAKARTA (Yosefardi) – Composite index of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) opened up 0.3% at 5158 this morning on hope BI Rate is kept as current level.
While Asian shares edged down on Thursday as investors were wary of the geopolitical implications of a planned speech by U.S. President Barack Obama, Reuters reported.
Nymex’s crude oil rose 0.1% to US$91.77 per barrel in Asian trading and gold increased 0.37% to US$1,253.60 per ounce.
Bank Indonesia (BI) schedules to make decision on its benchmark BI Rate today which kept at 7.5% during last 10 months. BI needs to set BI Rate on monthly basis for addressing the current economic development, mainly the inflation. in August 2014, the inflation was 3.99%, lower than BI Rate.
But now the inflation (to increase) is a concern as the new government has promised to adjust the subsidized fuel price with the market price on November this year. Some economists suggest no hike for BI Rate if fuel price hike only add 1.23% inflation assuming a 15% BI Rate hike or Rp1,000 per liter.
While business community, such as Indonesian Businessmen Association (Apindo), hopes the fuel prices to be lifted by Rp3,000 per liter, from current Rp6,500.