Holiday Ayo - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said that rice and gasoline were the commodities that contributed to the largest monthly inflation (month-to-month/mtm) in September 2023, reaching 0.19 percent compared to the previous month.

“The commodity contributing to inflation on a monthly basis is rice with an inflation contribution of 0.18 percent, then petrol with an inflation contribution of 0.6 percent in line with adjustments to non-subsidized fuel prices," said Acting Head of BPS Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti as reported by Republika.id, Monday (2/10). 

In recent times, the price of rice in various regions has increased. This increase was caused by the El Nino phenomenon which resulted in a decrease in production. 

To control the rate of rice prices, the government is intensifying market operations. The government's reserve rice is distributed to consumers directly or through the wholesale market. 

Apart from rice and petrol, said Amalia, the next biggest contributors to inflation were cellphone credit rates, academy or college tuition fees, filtered clove cigarettes and beef which contributed 0.01 percent to September inflation. 

Meanwhile, as a group, food, beverages and tobacco recorded inflation of 0.35 percent and contributed 0.09 percent to September inflation. 

Although a number of commodities in the food, beverage and tobacco groups contributed to inflation, BPS also noted that there were a number of commodities that contributed to deflation, including pure chicken eggs, onions, cayenne peppers, garlic and red chilies. 

Amalia added that the next contributor to deflation was air transportation rates, in line with the current low season situation. 

When viewed regionally, the city that experienced the highest inflation was Tanjung Pandan with inflation of 1.41 percent. 

The commodities contributing to the city's inflation are fresh fish with a contribution of 0.58 percent, rice 0.40 percent, air transportation 0.11 percent, kale 0.07 percent, and long beans 0.07 percent. 

Other cities that recorded the highest inflation in September were Sumenep with inflation of 0.72 percent, Bima City 0.63 percent, Tual City 0.61 percent, Kendari City 0.38 percent, and Kotabaru 0.34 percent. 

Meanwhile, the city that experienced the deepest deflation was Manokwari with deflation of 1.70 percent. 

According to BPS, the inflation rate in September 2023 will still be lower than September 2022. 

“Inflation in September last year was 1.17 percent," said Amalia. 

Meanwhile, on an annual basis, inflation in September 2023 reached 2.28 percent or there was an increase in the consumer price index from 112.87 in September 2022 to 115.44 in September 2023. 

This inflation was also lower than inflation in August 2023 which was 3.27 percent and also lower than the September 2022 annual inflation of 5.95 percent.