Aditya Suharmoko , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 02/11/2010 9:55 AM | Headlines
Indonesia’s economy grew at the fastest pace in three months to the end of December, last year, signaling that the recovery may come sooner than expected, officials say.
The economy grew by 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier after rising 4.2 percent in the third quarter, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported Wednesday.
The agency said that the economy expanded 4.5 percent in 2009.
“The 4.5 percent growth was higher than the government’s projection of 4.3 percent,” Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said.
“This showed that in the fourth quarter there was a significant increase. This will be our basis and evaluation. It seems that the recovery of exports and imports will be sooner than expected.”
The government expects the economy to expand 5.5 percent this year, supported by higher export-import activities, with a remaining strong private consumption.
The Trade Ministry said export of non-oil-and-gas products might grow between 7 percent and 8.5 percent this year due to an expected increase in global demand.
Last year Indonesia exported US$97.47 billion of non-oil-and-gas products, down 9.7 percent from $107.89 billion booked in 2008.
The BPS said last year’s 4.5 percent growth was mainly supported by private consumption, which contributed 58.6 percent of the country’s GDP of Rp 5.6 trillion (US$600 billion).
Asian economies mostly grew faster than analysts’ estimates, but Indonesia fared better due to its high consumer spending and less reliance on exports.
The country’s relatively low interest rate significantly helped spur consumer spending, the main driver of economic growth.
Bank Indonesia lowered its benchmark interest rate by 3 percent between December, 2008, to August last year to protect the country’s economy from the slowdown in the global economy.
The benchmark rate has maintained itself at 6.5 percent.
The transportation and communication sector had the most increase at 15.5 percent, followed by electricity, gas and the clean water sector with a 13.8 percent increase, the BPS said.
But labor-intensive sectors did not see a substantial increase.
The agriculture sector saw a 4.1 percent growth, the manufacturing industry sector 2.1 percent and the trade, hotel and restaurant sector 1.1 percent.
Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said the government would strive to boost the real sector to absorb more labor.
“The real sector that absorbs labor and manufacturers should be pushed. We want to create new employment opportunities for the people to make business,” he said.
In August, 2009, the rate of open unemployment stood at 7.87 percent of Indonesia’s 114 million workers, the BPS said.
The figure declined from 8.39 percent in August 2008.
The number of people living in poverty reached 32.53 million in March 2009, or 14.15 percent of about 230 million in total population.
The National Development Planning Agency said the government planned to reduce the poverty rate to between 8 percent and 10 percent in 2014 by accelerating infrastructure projects to spur growth in the real sector.
The economy grew by 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier after rising 4.2 percent in the third quarter, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported Wednesday.
The agency said that the economy expanded 4.5 percent in 2009.
“The 4.5 percent growth was higher than the government’s projection of 4.3 percent,” Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said.
“This showed that in the fourth quarter there was a significant increase. This will be our basis and evaluation. It seems that the recovery of exports and imports will be sooner than expected.”
The government expects the economy to expand 5.5 percent this year, supported by higher export-import activities, with a remaining strong private consumption.
The Trade Ministry said export of non-oil-and-gas products might grow between 7 percent and 8.5 percent this year due to an expected increase in global demand.
Last year Indonesia exported US$97.47 billion of non-oil-and-gas products, down 9.7 percent from $107.89 billion booked in 2008.
The BPS said last year’s 4.5 percent growth was mainly supported by private consumption, which contributed 58.6 percent of the country’s GDP of Rp 5.6 trillion (US$600 billion).
Asian economies mostly grew faster than analysts’ estimates, but Indonesia fared better due to its high consumer spending and less reliance on exports.
The country’s relatively low interest rate significantly helped spur consumer spending, the main driver of economic growth.
Bank Indonesia lowered its benchmark interest rate by 3 percent between December, 2008, to August last year to protect the country’s economy from the slowdown in the global economy.
The benchmark rate has maintained itself at 6.5 percent.
The transportation and communication sector had the most increase at 15.5 percent, followed by electricity, gas and the clean water sector with a 13.8 percent increase, the BPS said.
But labor-intensive sectors did not see a substantial increase.
The agriculture sector saw a 4.1 percent growth, the manufacturing industry sector 2.1 percent and the trade, hotel and restaurant sector 1.1 percent.
Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said the government would strive to boost the real sector to absorb more labor.
“The real sector that absorbs labor and manufacturers should be pushed. We want to create new employment opportunities for the people to make business,” he said.
In August, 2009, the rate of open unemployment stood at 7.87 percent of Indonesia’s 114 million workers, the BPS said.
The figure declined from 8.39 percent in August 2008.
The number of people living in poverty reached 32.53 million in March 2009, or 14.15 percent of about 230 million in total population.
The National Development Planning Agency said the government planned to reduce the poverty rate to between 8 percent and 10 percent in 2014 by accelerating infrastructure projects to spur growth in the real sector.
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