Indonesia’s central bank delivers surprise rate cut

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s central bank surprised markets by delivering its first rate cut in more than three years on Wednesday, moving to bolster growth in Southeast Asia’s largest economy ahead of the start of an expected easing cycle in the United States.

Bank Indonesia (BI) unexpectedly trimmed the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 6.00%, its first rate cut since February 2021. Only three out of 33 economists polled by Reuters had forecast a cut, while the others had expected BI to keep rates unchanged.

It also cut the overnight deposit facility and lending facility rates by the same amount to 5.25% and 6.75% respectively.