Bank Indonesia to Deliver Policy Rates Decision as Capital Market Reels from Chaos

MACROECONOMICS - JAKARTA. Indonesia's central bank is expected to weigh a capital market rout and pressure on the rupiah against economic growth prospects when it decides interest rate policy on Wednesday, with a slim majority of analysts predicting the bank would stand pat.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters from October 13-19 were nearly evenly split about whether Bank Indonesia would hold or hike rates. Fifteen out of 29 were expecting it to keep the benchmark at 5.75% while 13 predicted a 25 basis points (bps) hike and one saw a 50 bps increase.