Indonesia makes surprise rate increase

Indonesia’s central bank made a surprise move Tuesday to contain the country’s current account deficit by raising its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage point, to 7.5 percent, according to a New York Times report.

Bank Indonesia said in a statement the decision was made to ensure the current account deficit - which could ease to $8.4 billion in the third quarter from $10 billion in the second quarter - continues to decline.

The central bank has a goal of keeping inflation at a range of 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent next year.

Read more from the New York Times.