TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that the national economy is expected to grow by 5.1 percent. She added that the projection reflects optimism and caution.
“The optimism results in the ability to maintain the momentum; the caution is related to external and internal challenges that need to be addressed,” Sri Mulyani said at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) in Jakarta on Wednesday, November 23, 2016.
She explained that Indonesia has managed to maintain its economic growth at 5 percent and a budget deficit below 3 percent. Sri Mulyani claimed that the economic condition in Indonesia is far better than those in Brazil and India. She revealed that the two countries’ budget deficits in 2015 stood at 10 percent and 7 percent of the GNP, respectively.
Sri Mulyani also predicted that the household consumption and government consumption would remain stable at 5.0 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, in 2017.
In terms of investment, the Minister expected a growth of 6 percent. She hopes that private sector’s investment, particularly in the capital market, would be better than this year. The expectation is based on the improvement of infrastructures, macroeconomic stability, and increasing government effectiveness.
Sri Mulyani viewed that the growth exports and imports would remain low at 0.2 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. The prediction reflects that the global market will still experience a slowdown. Sri hopes that exports and imports will start to recover as the contraction over the last periods has been significant enough.
INDRY FLORENTIN
