News Room - Business/Economics

Posted on 17 Feb 2009

Indonesia GDP growth slows in fourth quarter

Indonesia,s economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter of 2008 as the global downturn started to bite, according to official figures released Monday.

 

The economy grew a non-seasonally adjusted 5.2 percent on year during the fourth quarter, decelerating from 6.1 percent in the July-September period, the Central Statistics Agency said.

 

On a quarterly basis, the economy contracted 3.6 percent, swinging from 3.5 percent growth in the third quarter.

 

While it is usual for the Indonesian economy to contract on quarter in the last three months of the year because of seasonal harvests, this year,s figure is exaggerated by a plunge in global raw material prices that hurt its commodity exports and subsequently household consumption.

 

The agency said that Indonesia,s economy grew 6.1 percent in 2008, slowing from 6.3 percent in 2007 and falling short slightly of the government,s 6.2 percent target.

 

"Our economy started to feel the impact of the global crisis in the fourth quarter," agency chairman Rusman Heriawan was quoted by AFP as telling Dow Jones newswires.

 

The government expects the economic downturn to linger, predicting only 4.5 to 4.7 percent growth this year.

 

A Dow Jones Newswires poll of nine regional economists yielded a median forecast for 5.70 percent on-year expansion in the fourth quarter of last year.