Indonesia's central bank revises down economic growth forecast
Bank Indonesia (BI) has cut its 2021 economic growth forecast range for the Southeast Asian country to between 3.5-4.3 percent from 4.1-5.1 percent previously.
Jakarta (VNA) – Bank Indonesia (BI) has cut its2021 economic growth forecast range for the Southeast Asian country to between 3.5-4.3 percent from 4.1-5.1 percent predicted previously.
Speaking at a press conference on July 22, BI Governor Perry Warjiyo saidthe lower prediction resulted from complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic,particularly the appearance of the Delta variant.
According to the official, Indonesia's economic growthpotential remained quite good until the second quarter, fueled by an increasein exports, public spending and non-construction investment.
He said that an increase in a number of indicators in earlyJune such as retail sales and purchasing management index showed that theeconomy was on the way to recovery.
Economic growth in the third quarter is forecast to be lowerthan the previous quarter as the Indonesian Government is tightening restrictionsto slow the spread of COVID-19.
The BI governor expected growth to bounce back in the fourthquarter thanks to the acceleration of vaccination, relaxation of restrictions, andexport growth potential.
Earlier this month, the Indonesian Government slashed thecountry’s 2021 growth projection to 3.7-4.5 percent from the earlierprediction of 4.5-5.3 percent, given the serious impacts of the latest wave ofCOVID-19 caused by the Delta variant and recent restrictions imposed on the twoislands of Java and Bali./.
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At a market in Indonesia (Source: Xinhua/VNA) 
