Source from: Antara News
Original News HERE
The Finance Ministry has projected Indonesia’s economy to grow by up to seven percent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2021 along with rising economic activities.
“There will be significant improvements in the second quarter of 2021. According to our calculations, our economy can grow above seven percent year-on-year,” Chief of the Fiscal Policy Board at the Finance Ministry Fabrio Kacaribu noted during an online press briefing on the state budget here on Tuesday.
The increase in economic activities resulting from the successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and implementing the national vaccination program will drive positive economic growth in the second quarter of 2021, he remarked.
The economic activities consistently improved since the third quarter of 2020 until the end of 2020 when the economy contracted 2.19 percent, or better than that of other G20 and ASEAN member states, he remarked.
The signs of economic recovery emerged in the first quarter of 2021 as was visible from the strong purchasing managers index (PMI), export and import recovery, and increasing consumption and investment.
“We look at consistent improvement in the first quarter, with the growth estimated at minus 1 to 0.1 percent. This shows significant quarter-to-quarter improvement as reflected in the figures,” he noted.
Kacaribu expressed belief that the improvement will continue until the end of 2021 when the economy will grow in the range of 4.8 to 4.9 percent along with strong positive sentiments toward the direction of economic recovery.
On a separate occasion, Bahana economist Satria Sambijantoro projected the third-quarter economic growth to reach 7.82 percent year-on-year after a 0.85-percent contraction in the second quarter.
Reporter: Satyagraha/Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf, INE
