JAKARTA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian central bank on Thursday held its benchmark interest rate steady for a fifth month to pare down external pressures amid efforts to ratchet up demand.
The rate-setting board meeting on Thursday decided to keep a seven-day reserve repo rate at 6 percent, governor of the lender Perry Warjiyo said.
Warjiyo said the decision was aimed at making Indonesian financial assets attractive.
The rupiah has recovered from its lows in 2018 as huge foreign capitals flowed into the country's financial assets amid improvement of the global sentiment, he said.
"The decision is in line with efforts to boost external stability of Indonesian economy, especially it aims to maintain current account deficit and attractiveness of the financial assets," he said at the lender's headquarters.
The central bank has targeted to narrow current account gap to 2.5 percent of the GDP this year.
The lender unveiled other policies to drive up domestic demand by boosting liquidity for financial market, Warjiyo said.
The decision came after the banks' loans growth edged off slightly in the first quarter, which was dented by subdued demand of credits for capital goods and investment, according to a survey carried out by the lender.
According to data from the national statistics bureau, the annualized core inflation, stripping off administered prices and volatile food prices, ticked off 3.03 percent in March after logging steady at 3.06 percent in February. Consumption accounts for over half of GDP growth in Indonesia.
The U.S. Federal Reserve has given more-than-expected dovish signal for this year, estimating no rate hikes this year.
The Indonesian government looks to 5.3 percent economic growth this year and 5.3 to 5.6 percent next year after registering 5.17 percent last year.
