KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Headline inflation re-accelerated to 3.19% YoY in August 2026 from 2.88% in July, leaving only 31 basis points of headroom below Bank Indonesia’s 3.5% ceiling, while the July trade account posted a surplus of only USD 0.12Bn.
- The re-acceleration came from food, not energy: volatile prices rose 0.88% MoM, contributing 0.15pp, while administered prices fell 0.33% MoM and core inflation reached 2.92% YoY, a cycle high.
- July’s surplus is arithmetic, not strength: imports rose 27.02% YoY to USD 26.09Bn and the January to July surplus collapsed 84.4% to USD 3.70Bn from USD 23.77Bn.
- We keep a hold at 5.75% as base case for the September RDG at 50% against 35% for a 25 basis point step to 6.00%, with the constraint external rather than domestic.
Regards, Aldiracita Research