Indonesia's economy up 6.4 pct in Q2

Source:Xinhua Published: 2012-8-6 13:49:35

Indonesia's economy grew slightly by 6.4 percent in the second quarter on yearly basis, as consumption and investment offset decline of exports amid the gloomy global economy, the National Statistic Bureau said here on Monday.

"The economic growth in the second quarter reached 6.4 percent, " Suryamin, head of the bureau told a press conference at the bureau office.

Indonesia economy expanded by 6.3 in the first quarter, the bureau has said. Compared to the previous quarter, the economy grew by 2.8 percent at the second quarter, said Suryamin.

For the whole of the year, the government expects the economy to expand by 6.5 percent.

"The acceleration was supported by the growth of manufacture sector, tourism, and the acceleration of government spending," Suryamin said.

The condition may allow the central bank to keep the interest rates unchanged at 5.75 percent, as the inflation accelerated faster in the last two months.

Indonesia's inflation accelerated slightly in July to 4.56 percent on yearly basis, as the start of the Ramadan fasting month pushed up basic food prices.

Though the inflation still rather low, but analysts have been worrying that the drought in the US pushes prices of global foods.

Indonesia has felt the risk of supply shortage of soybean that led the government to reduce import tax of the commodity to zero in Aug. after protest from tofu makers over the supply shortages.

Indonesia central bank expects the inflation to accelerate at 3. 5 percent to 5.5 percent this year, and has said that the inflation remains in check so far.

Indonesia trade deficit reached the all time high of 1.3 billion US dollar in June, Satwiko Darmesto, director of Indonesia's Central Statistics Agency said.

Indonesia foreign direct investment reached a record 5.9 billion US dollar in the second quarter, 30.2 percent higher from a year earlier, the Coordinating Investment Board has said.

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