Indonesian consumers remain optimistic, but worry about jobs

Reuters - Indonesia's consumers remained optimistic about prospects for the economy in January, but were more concerned about the availability of jobs, a Bank Indonesia
survey showed on Monday.

The consumer confidence index edged up to 116.7 from 116.5 in December. A reading above 100 indicates that consumers in general are optimistic. 
Price pressures were expected to increase in the next three months and will surge over the next six months, bolstered by Muslim holidays, as well as rising worries about the security, social and political situations after presidential election on July 9.

        
                                                              JAN     DEC     NOV
 Consumer confidence index               116.7   116.5   114.3
 Present situation index                       110.9   111.6   107.2
 Expectation index                               122.4   121.3   121.4
 
    CONTEXT 
    - Bank Indonesia (BI) will hold its next monthly policy meeting to decide its benchmark reference rate on Feb. 13.
    - January inflation was 8.22 percent, while core inflation was 4.53 percent from a year earlier. Both eased slightly from December.
    - Bank Indonesia reported bank loans in December grew 21.4 percent, slowing from 21.9 percent the previous month.
    - For 2013, the economy expanded at the slowest pace in four years at 5.78 percent.
    - The central bank expects annual inflation to be around  3.5-5.5 percent in 2014.