Indonesia's Economy Slows Down Due to Global Effect: BI

Surabaya, East Java (Antara) - Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor Mirza Adityaswara has blamed global economic slowdown as a factor behind Indonesia's economic decline in the third quarter. "The third quarter figure is lower because global economic growth is slowing except the US," he said here on Wednesday. He said the global economic slowdown could also be seen in the export destination countries such as China and Japan and in the prices of commodities that had declined. "The price of coal is down while the price of palm oil is not going up. That would certainly make our commodity exports to slow," he said. Mirza predicted economy would improve a bit in the fourth quarter with the growth rate by the end of the year expected to be at 5.1 to 5.2 percent. "I think in the fourth quarter the economy would grow flat or a bit higher but this year it would still stand at 5.1 to 5.2 percent and I think it will remain so until in the first quarter next year," he said. Indonesia's economy grew 5.21 in the first quarter and 5.12 in the second quarters, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. With the growth rate recorded at 5.01 percent in the third quarter it means national economic growth rate is still around 5.1 percent which is far from the assumed rate of 5.5 percent set in the 2014 revised budget. Bank Indonesia has predicted the country's economy would grow between 5.1 percent and 5.5. percent this year. President Joko Widodo has pledge to make the economy to grow by 7.0 percent in the next few years. (*) reporting by satyagraha