Indonesia's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to 9.50 per cent on Tuesday, signalling its commitment to fight inflation at the risk of slower growth, officials said.
Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono told reporters that the key rate was increased to suit high inflation and to anticipate the global financial crisis.
Inflation soared to 12.14 per cent year-on-year in September from 11.85 per cent in August, driven by resilient domestic demand and higher global commodity and fuel prices.
Indonesia's stock index plunged 10.02 per cent on Monday amid the global credit crisis. On Tuesday, the Indonesian composite index was down 1.76 per cent.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday held a special meeting to discuss the impact of the global crisis and said Indonesia would not see a repeat of the financial crisis of 1997. He noted all the fundamentals looked solid and said there was clear potential for domestic market expansion.
Shares fell 2.1 per cent Friday on the Seoul stock exchange on general recession fears. South Korea's won dropped against the dollar.
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