JAKARTA, Jan 2 Reuters Indonesia39;s inflation rose slightly in December and remained above the central bank39;s target range for the seventh successive month, official data showed on Monday, as household spending rose during the yearend holidays.

The headline annual inflation rate picked up to 5.51 in December, compared with 5.42 in November and 5.39 expected by analysts polled by Reuters.

Bank Indonesia39;s BI inflation target range is 2 to 4. In its meeting last month, the central bank had predicted December inflation would not exceed 5.4.

BI raised the key policy rate by a total of 200 basis points in August to December to bring inflation to within its target range this year.

December39;s prices were propped up by higher prices of fuel, air fares, house rents and foodstuff such as rice and eggs, Statistics Indonesia chief Margo Yuwono told a news conference.

The annual core inflation rate, which excludes governmentcontrolled prices and volatile food prices, inched higher to 3.36 from 3.30 a month earlier, while the Reuters poll had expected a rate of 3.39.

Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman, Fransiska Nangoy, Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Martin Petty

Source Reuters