Indonesia's annual inflation rate is likely to be lower in April compared to the previous month because of an easing in prices of rice, the head of the statistics bureau said on Tuesday. Indonesia's inflation rate rose in March from February on higher prices of rice, a staple food in Southeast Asia's largest economy which has a significant weight in the consumer price index.

Floods in and around Jakarta in February damaged rice fields in some production areas and pushed up prices but the government's decision to import rice helped stabilise prices. "This is because of an easing in rice prices while at the same time price increases in other products are seen as not significant," Rusman Heriawan told reporters. Annual consumer inflation rose to 6.52 percent in March from 6.3 percent in February due to higher rice prices.