Inflation in Indonesia accelerated in August after a temporary slowdown in July, driven primarily by rising food and transportation prices, according to official data released Tuesday. The consumer price index (CPI) increased by 3.19% year-on-year (y-o-y) in August, up from 2.88% in July, remaining within the government and Bank Indonesia’s (BI) target range of 2.5% ±1%.

Statistics Indonesia official Ateng Hartono highlighted that prices in the food, beverages, and tobacco category rose 3.86% y-o-y, contributing 1.13 percentage points to overall inflation. Key items pushing food prices higher included chicken, fresh fish, cooking oil, rice, cigarettes, bird’s eye chili, beef, and red chili. Transportation costs increased by 4.79%, influenced by higher gasoline prices, airfares, engine lubricants, motorcycles, and cars. Among major expenditure groups, personal care and other services recorded the highest inflation rate at 9.25%, largely due to increased gold jewelry prices.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and government-administered prices, was recorded at 2.92% in August. Inflation for government-administered prices stood at 3.32%, while volatile food inflation reached 4.06%.

The release of this data coincided with the House of Representatives’ approval of Destry Damayanti as the new governor of Bank Indonesia on Tuesday. Destry, a 62-year-old economist and BI deputy governor since 2019, succeeded Perry Warjiyo, who resigned abruptly in late July amid economic pressures including a depreciating rupiah and declining stock market performance.

Destry had been serving as acting governor since Perry’s departure. Her appointment, which was the result of a presidential nomination from Prabowo Subianto, was the only one considered and followed speculation surrounding possible candidates, including Thomas Djiwandono, Prabowo’s nephew and a current deputy governor. Fitch Ratings noted that Destry’s appointment reinforced expectations of policy continuity at the central bank.

Following the House session, Destry stated that her immediate focus would be to convene the full board of governors to clarify responsibilities among deputy governors to ensure effective central bank operations. She emphasized that amid persistent global economic uncertainties, maintaining economic stability, including stable exchange rates and inflation levels, would remain a top priority.

Destry was scheduled to be formally sworn in by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

In a statement released Tuesday, Perry Warjiyo expressed hope that the new board would reinforce BI’s mandate to uphold monetary stability while supporting sustainable economic growth amid ongoing global volatility.