Indonesia's inflation accelerated in July, led mainly by higher food prices, data from Statistics Indonesia showed Wednesday. A separate release from the statistical office showed a sharp decline in exports.
The consumer price index rose 4.56 percent year-on-year in July, faster than 4.53 percent increase in the previous month. Economists had forecast the rate of inflation to rise to 4.59 percent.
Food prices jumped 7.02 percent from a year earlier. Prices of food, beverages and tobacco climbed 5.88 percent. Utility costs were 3.29 percent higher than last year.
Clothing prices increased 5.6 percent year-on-year, while there was a 1.87 percent rise in the price index for transport and communications.
Month-on-month, CPI rose 0.7 percent. The monthly inflation rate was also driven by price growth in food and utilities. The core inflation rate was 4.28 percent in July and the underlying measure was up 0.54 percent month-on-month.
Separately, the statistical office reported that exports plunged 16.44 percent annually to $15.36 billion in June. This was 8.7 percent lower than in May.
Non-oil exports fell 15 percent annually and 4.04 percent on a monthly basis in June. A fall in crude oil shipments led to further reduction in oil and gas exports during the month.
Indonesia's exports from January to June totaled $96.88 billion, down 1.76 percent from the same period last year.
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