Jakarta- Indonesia's central bank on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 8.75 per cent to support growth amid a global economic slowdown.

The cut was higher than expected after Bank Indonesia reduced the rate by 25 basis points in December.

"For 2009 our monetary policy should pay more attention to efforts to support economic growth while continuing to rein in inflation and stabilise the financial sector," Bank Indonesia governor Boediono, who, like many Indonesians goes by only one name, said in a statement.

Bank Indonesia raised its key interest rate six times during 2008 to 9.5 per cent to curb inflationary pressures.

Taipei - A Taiwan man, fearing deportation of his Indonesian wife, hid her and their three children at home for seven years, an immigration official and a local news report said Wednesday.

Local authorities in Puli, central Taiwan, uncovered the secret of Liu Fan-jung, 43, a noodle maker, in August 2008.

Liu met his wife, an Indonesian of Chinese descent identified by her surname Chen, 14 years ago when she was visiting on a tourist visa, but overstayed to work illegally in Taiwan, the United Daily News said.

Liu and Chen met, fell in love and got married, but did not register with authorities, fearing she would be deported, which would put her on a blacklist, preventing her return for three years.

Munich  - Indonesia

Jakarta - Indonesia's consumer price index in December declined 0.04 per cent against the previous month, driven by lower costs of transportation and communication, a senior government official said Monday.

The 2008 annual inflation rate was 11.06 per cent, said Ali Rosidi, deputy chairman of the Central Bureau of Statistics.

Rosidi said the December deflation was due to a decrease in the price index in the group transport, communications and financial services.

Jakarta  - A series of powerful earthquakes rattled the eastern Indonesian province of West Papua on Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens of others, officials said.

The quake hit at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres at 4:43 am (1943 GMT Saturday), about 135 kilometres north-west of Manokwari, the provincial capital of West Papua, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

An aftershock measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre on land about 76 kilometres north-west of Manokwari, struck about two hours later but triggered no tsunami, the agency said.

The US Geological Survey put the initial quake at 7.6 Richter scale and the strongest aftershock at 7.5 on the Richter scale.

Jakarta  - A series of earthquakes rattled the eastern Indonesian province of West Papua on Sunday morning, killing at least one and injuring 26 others, officials said.

An official at Manokwari's general hospital confirmed that one body and 26 injured persons had been sent to the hospital.

The powerful 7.2-magnitude quake struck off the West Papua province at 4:43 am (1943 GMT Saturday). A 7.6-magnitude aftershock rattled the provincial capital town and nearby regions two hours after the initial quake.