VP Kalla puts pressure on central bank to cut interest rates

JAKARTA: Indonesia vice-president Jusuf Kalla has challenged the country’s central bank in person to stop using the US Federal Reserve as an excuse not to cut interest rates, which he said are too high and impeding investment.

Indonesia has higher interest rates than its neighbors, which is one of the country’s weaknesses, along with infrastructure and bureaucracy, Kalla said in a speech in front of Bank of Indonesia governor Agus Martowardojo in Jakarta.