(MENAFN- AFP) Indonesia's central bank held its benchmark interest rate at 7.50 percent on Thursday in a sign that anxiety over Southeast Asia's top economy is easing.Indonesia plunged into the economic doldrums in 2013 when its currency and markets dived, inflation almost doubled and the current account fell into deep deficit. The bank kept the rate steady on improved economic indicators last month, when trade swung back to a healthy surplus after hitting a record low months earlier and the high inflation rate steadied."This rate is considered capable of managing the stability of Indonesia's economy and a healthier current account deficit," Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Agus Martowardojo told reporters.Credit Suisse said in a note that it forecast one more hike of 25 basis points, but that the second half of 2014 would see monetary loosening, with inflation expected to fall."If history is any guide, this will trigger BI into action and we continue to look for 100 (basis points) of reference rate reductions between July and October," Credit Suisse Asian economics research director Robert Prior-Wandesforde said. Bank Indonesia has lifted rates 175 basis points since June, with the rupiah losing more than 20 percent of its value in 2013 and stocks declining as foreign investors withdrew funds on fears the US Federal Reserve would scale back its stimulus programme.It has struggled to control prices, which rose 8.38 percent in 2013 -- almost double the previous year, following a hike in the price of subsidised fuel.Martowardojo was confident the bank could rein in on prices this year, saying inflation in 2013 was "significantly lower than when fuel prices were hiked several years earlier", adding the inflation target this year was set at 3.5 to 4.5 percent.
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