Indonesia central bank seen cutting rates before Fed moves - Reuters poll

The latest Reuters poll of 33 analysts showed that a majority of them see the Indonesian central bank, Bank Indonesia’s (BI), cutting the benchmark interest rate this Thursday, preceding the anticipated move by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) later this month.

Key Findings:

“23 of 33 analysts predicted BI will make a 25-basis point trim in the benchmark 7-day reverse repo rate to 5.75% - which would be the first cut since September 2017 - on Thursday. The other 10 expect BI to hold.

The poll showed an expectation of further policy easing until the first quarter of 2020. Among 19 analysts who made predictions of where the benchmark would be at end-March, the median view was 5.25%, or 75 basis points below the current rate.”