TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Bank Indonesia (BI) senior deputy governor Mirza Adityaswara said that the Indonesia’s economic growth is not as strong as expected due to a minus credit growth.
“However, it is the pattern. The first quarter is lower. Usually, economic activities started to increase in the second quarter and further increase in the third and fourth quarter,” Mirza said at the BI Complex in Jakarta on Friday, April 7, 2017.
The government set a target of economic growth at 5.1 percent in the 2017 State Budget. The Asian Bank Development predicted that Indonesia’s economic growth would reach 5.1 percent in 2017 and 5.3 percent in the following year.
During a press conference held on Thursday, April 6, 2017, ADB country director for Indonesia Winfried Wicklein said that Indonesia’s economy this year would be supported by improvements in the investment and trade sectors.
“Indonesia will gain a momentum to push its growth,” Wicklein said.
In addition, the ADB projected that Indonesia’s household consumption would increase in line with stabilizing commodity prices. Commodity prices recovery, Wicklein went on, would also raise Indonesia’s exports. Imports are also expected to grow as domestic demands continue to show an increasing trend.
Bahana Sekuritias economist Fakhrul Fulvian forecasted that Indonesia’s economy would grow by 4.95 percent in the first quarter of this year, slightly increasing from that in the fourth quarter of 2016 at 4.94 percent.
ANGELINA ANJAR SAWITRI