Indonesia cuts key rate again

Indonesia's central bank on Friday cut its main interest rate for the second consecutive month, wrongfooting most analysts as it seeks to support sluggish lending and consumption holding back growth in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
Policymakers in Indonesia have been struggling to lift the economic growth rate, which has remained around 5 percent in each of the past four quarters. Bank Indonesia (BI) cut the benchmark seven-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent, following its first cut since October 2016 last month. Twenty of 26 analysts in a Reuters poll had expected the central bank to hold rates on Friday.