Indonesia's annual inflation rate edged up in October, official data showed on Wednesday, in line with expectations and within the central bank's target range, though some economists say more rate hikes are likely if the rupiah weakens further.

The annual inflation rate accelerated slightly to 2.56% in October, from 2.28% in the previous month, and was a fraction below the 2.60% forecast in a Reuters poll.

Bank Indonesia (BI) targets inflation within a range of 2% to 4% this year. The target will be lowered to 1.5% to 3.5% in 2024.

The annual core inflation rate, which strips out volatile food prices and government controlled prices, slowed a touch to 1.91% in October, from September's 2%. The poll had expected 2%.

Rising prices of rice, chicken meat, cigarettes and home rental costs drove inflation last month, the statistics bureau said.

Inflation in Indonesia has slowed since peaking near 6% in September of 2022, after the government raised subsidised fuel prices amid rising global energy prices.

BI has raised interest rates by 250 basis points since August 2022 to cool inflation, with its latest rate hike last month aimed at stabilising the rupiah's exchange rate and mitigating imported inflation.

Despite Indonesia's relatively low inflation, some economists have said BI may need to raise rates further if the rupiah continues to weaken against the U.S. dollar.

The currency has come under pressure on the back of global risk-off asset moves linked to U.S. monetary tightening and the Middle East and Ukraine conflicts.

It weakened 0.4% to 15,945 a dollar at 0500 GMT Wednesday, near its lowest since 2020, ahead of a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy decision later in the day.

There is a risk of inflation surging if global oil prices rise to above $120 per barrel due to the conflict in the Middle East, which may force Jakarta to hike subsidised fuel prices again, said Irman Faiz, an economist with Bank Danamon.

Danamon's baseline is for end-year inflation at 2.7%, within BI's target, though Irman said the central bank may raise policy rates again "if the exchange rate remains like this (depreciating) after the FOMC meeting." (Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman, Gayatri Suroyo and Ananda Teresia; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Shri Navaratnam)