Indonesia's central bank uses Ramadan sermons to preach on inflation

By Stefanno Sulaiman

MAJALENGKA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Waiting to break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, clerics in the Indonesian town of Majalengka gathered for an unusual briefing on the subject of inflation, led by the country's central bank.

The address by a central bank official and two Muslim clerics in the town's Islamic centre was part of Bank Indonesia's strategy to enlist preachers to warn against overconsumption during Ramadan, which can trigger price pressures in a country with a history of runaway inflation.

Though inflation has been brought under control in the past decade as authorities beef up efforts to strengthen food distribution along the supply chain, the central bank is keen to spread its message about the need to keep prices stable.

"We hope you as the ulemas (scholars of Islam) can be mediators to convey the message that inflation management is our common task," said Agung Budilaksono, the senior central bank official for Majalengka.

"Inflation must be managed, because it's like blood pressure ... If it's too high, it will ruin your health in the long run and if it's too low, you will get weak," he told the clerics.

Ramadan ends with the Eid al-Fitr festival, which, like in other Muslim countries, typically marks peak demand in Indonesia, where Muslims make up the majority of the population of 280 million. 

Islamic clerics are influential among the public in Indonesia's remote areas and towns like Majalengka in West Java, about three hours from the capital Jakarta.   

"People tend to want more during Ramadan, so maybe we need to remind them again that the point of fasting is to control our lust," said Mohamad Padil, 53, one of the clerics listening at the forum.

Inflation once ran hot in Southeast Asia's largest economy, but in 2024 was 1.57%, near the lower end of the central bank's target range, while West Java's rate was 1.64%.

The rate dropped further in the first two months of 2025 due to a large increase in subsidies for electricity prices, and economists predict it will remain within the central bank's 1.5% to 3.5% target range this year.

The central bank has run other unconventional initiatives including a podcast on spending management and programmes to foster entrepreneurship as well as boost local food supply.

At the nearby Islamic boarding school of Santi Asromo, it helped build a greenhouse for students to plant Chinese cabbage and water spinach, constructing a fish farm for the school next door.  

(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by Aidan Lewis)