Minister: Consumption Remains as Growth Main Driver
17 August 2015 17:20 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said that consumption remains the biggest driver behind Indonesia's economic growth - as such, Bambang said that consumption and spending needs to maintained in order for Indonesia's economy to continue growing in 2016.
Bambang said that consumption - which is assumed to increase around the five percent mark in 2016 - needs to be closely guarded because it contributes to around 60 percent of Indonesia's overall economic growth. "The rate is not expected to exceed that mark - but the impact of such consumption could be amplified, which could be done through sound investment," said Bambang at the State Palace on Monday, August 17, 2015.
The government, continued Bambang, will do its' part by allocating a significant portion of its' budget to the construction of infrastructures in 2016.
Bambang said that he hopes the private sector would also play a part, especially considering that the outlook for 2016 is quite stable - as the US Federal Reserve is likely to have raised its' Fund rate, thus eliminating a significant amount of uncertainty from the market.
By 2016, continued Bambang, China is also expected to have found its' footing by devaluing the Yuan. Europe and Japan is also continuing to give away monetary stimulus in a bid to jumpstart its' economic growth. Bambang believes that those assumptions mean that it is quite reasonable to expect Indonesia's economy to grow by 5.5 percent in 2016.
ALI HIDAYAT