Bank Indonesia seen cutting rates again on Thursday - Reuters poll

The latest Reuters poll of 21 economists showed on Tuesday, a small majority of them see Bank Indonesia (BI), the Indonesian central bank, slashing its benchmark interest rate once again this Thursday.

This could be the third straight rate cut by the central bank, as it strives to ramp up economic growth.

Key Findings:

“13 economists predicted Bank Indonesia (BI) will trim its 7-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 5.25% this week, bringing this year’s total easing to 75 bps.

The other eight economists expected the central bank to stand pat.

Analysts had predicted July’s cut was the beginning of an easing cycle to unwind the central bank’s tightening in 2018.

A key factor to Thursday's decision is the rupiah’s stability, many economists have said, and the currency has lost its footing this week, weakening 1.4% since its previous peak at 13,900 per dollar on Sept. 13.”