SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)–Analysts around the world may be crowing over the (alleged) inflation corpse, but in Indonesia at least it’s too soon to say price pressures are dead and buried.

And that means the central bank is likely to meet the expectations of most economists later Thursday and hike interest rates by 25 basis points to 9.25%.

Such action should remind others in Asia of the risks of being too sanguine about inflation magically dissipating. But policymakers’ and pundits’ eagerness to declare the inflation threat over could very well mean this may not occur (one international bank put out a report yesterday titled “So long inflation! Bond investors wave you goodbye”).

Asian central banks are sitting back and letting their currencies fall, intervening in the foreign exchange market to smooth the declines, rather than try and reverse the slides.

Partly that is because the region’s currencies are weakening as a pack amid general U.S. dollar gains - and thus aren’t out of alignment from a broader perspective.

But it also reflects the newfound priority of promoting growth, instead of fighting inflation, with the view that the current economic slowdown will ease demand and thus prices.

It’s timely then, to consider Indonesia’s case, as it has parallels for the rest of the region.

Indonesia has been viewed in the past as being slow off the mark in Asia to recognize the inflation risk and move on it. Now it seems, it could be accused of being behind the curve in terms of recognizing the risks to growth and moving on that by bringing rate hikes to a halt.

In this case, perhaps the rest of Asia should be taking its lead from Jakarta, instead of trying to pull it into line.

On-year consumer inflation slowed marginally in Indonesia to 11.85% in August from 11.90% in July, while the on-month price increase eased to 0.51% from 1.37%.

CPI data out this week from other countries, including Thailand and Korea, also showed some tapering off price pressures.

But, within that, food prices in the region remained well elevated. In Indonesia they rose 20.1% on the year while transport prices rose another 10.1% and housing 10%.

While the recent moderation in global commodity prices may be offering some short-term relief when it comes to inflation, this may not end up lasting long.

When it comes down to it, there are still capacity constraints and transport bottlenecks.

And even as speculative froth is being taken off commodity prices, remember there remains an awful lot of fundamental demand - and not just from China and India.

As well, for a fair few countries in Asia, including Indonesia, the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is now underway. It lasts for 30 days until September 30.

During this time, food prices tend to rise, as do transportation costs.

While it might be tempting to disregard this mostly as a seasonal factor, it could also exacerbate existing tightness in supply and have a more prolonged impact.

Asian central banks shouldn’t be rushing into rate cut campaigns. Economic growth is slowing in several areas, but emerging market growth generally should remain comfortable in 2009.

For now that point is being noted, and officials are mostly relying on their domestic currencies to promote growth, or embarking on modest fiscal stimulus packages which are more about being seen to do something rather than actually doing it.

But the key is that central banks stay on the path. They must not succumb to the temptation - or political or public pressure - to slice rates too soon.