Economy to slowdown in 2009: BI

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta,  Tue, 11/11/2008

Despite a projection of increasing growth in the fourth quarter of 2008, the national economy is expected to slow down in the coming year due to decreasing exports, Bank Indonesia deputy governor said Monday evening.

"The economy may have been showing positive signs of growth during the 2008 fourth quarter, however the trend is that it's slowing down," Hartadi A Sarwono told a hearing at the House of Representative, kompas.com reported Tuesday morning.

Sarwono said the projected 6 percent growth was unrealistic vis-a-vis global and regional trends indicating a slowdown.

"The projected 6 percent growth is too high. Just reaching 5 percent is already an achievement," he said, adding that next year's growth would be supported by the presence of a strong domestic demand, particularly private consumption.
 
"Growth will be propped up by significant private consumption, the implementation of regional and presidential elections, and the availability of banking financing," Sarwono said. "In export terms,however, the global economic slowdown and decreasing international commodity prices would affect our performance in export."