By JAKARTA, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Indonesia’s central bank kept key interest rates unchanged at a record low on Thursday, as expected, holding fire after providing a bout of monetary stimulus last year to support the coronavirus-hit economy.
Bank Indonesia (BI) left the 7-day reverse repurchase rate at 3.75%, the lowest since the central bank began using it as its benchmark in 2016. A majority of analysts in a Reuters poll had expected rates to remain steady.
BI also kept its overnight deposit facility and lending facility rates at 3.00% and 4.50%, respectively.
Last year, BI slashed interest rates five times totalling 125 basis points, pumped some $50 billion worth of liquidity into the financial system and relaxed lending rules to help Southeast Asia’s largest economy weather the COVID-19 pandemic. The central bank last cut rates in November.
(Reporting by Gayatri Suroyo, Fransiska Nangoy and Tabita Diela; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
