Illustrative image (Photo: https://www.thejakartapost.com/) Hanoi (VNA) – Indonesia has continued revising its economic growth forecast for this year to a contraction of between 2.2 and 1.7 percent amid an increase of COVID-19 infections and tightened restrictions.
The figures were lowered from the September estimate of between minus 1.7 percent and minus 0.6 percent, driven by shrunken household spending that makes up more than half of the country’s GDP.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told an online press meeting on December 21 that household consumption is predicted to decline by 2.6 - 3.6 percent due to the mounting COVID-19 cases in December, which has triggered tightened anti-pandemic measures.
With the newly imposed restrictions, the largest Southeast Asian economy is projected to contract by 2.9 - 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period last year, despite signs of recovery in November.
Indonesia’s GDP fell 5.3 percent and 3.5 percent in Q2 and Q3 year-on-year, respectively, officially pushing this country to the first downturn since the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
Recently, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank also further downgraded their growth forecasts for Indonesia this year to a contraction of 2.2 percent, compared to their respective previous estimates of minus 1 percent and minus 1.6 percent./.
VNA
