The central bank (Bank Indonesia/BI) unexpectedly on Thursday (Nov 15) raised its benchmark interest rate, 7-day reverse repurchase rate, by 25 bps to 6%, after trade balance posted a gap in October. Policymakers said the decision to increase the tightening was consistent with efforts to reduce the current account gap to a more healthy limit of around 2.5% of GDP in 2019, anticipating a rise on global interest rates in the upcoming months, and a continued stabilizing of rupiah. The lending and the deposit facility rates were also raised by 25 bps to 6.75% and 5.25% respectively.