Indonesia growth rate for 2007 will be good if it reaches 6 pct

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah said on Thursday the country`s economic growth in 2007 would be good if it reached 6 percent, the same as the net point of the central bank`s projection of 5.7-6.3 percent.

"I think if it (the economic growth) reaches the net point of 6 percent, it will be good," he said after the opening of a national development planning conference here.

The economic growth target could be achieved if it was supported by a high growth of investment, a 18-20 percent growth of bank lending and effective absorption of bank loans, he said.

Asked to comment on the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS)`s prediction that the economic growth in the first quarter of 2007 had exceeded the central bank`s projection of 5.4 percent, he said it was possible.

"Let`s wait for the BPS`s announcement on May 15," he said.

The Finance Ministry has set the economic growth target for the first quarter of 2007 at 5.7-5.9 percent.

BPS chief Rusman Heriawan said earlier if the economy only expanded 6 percent in the first three months of 2007, the government must work harder in the following quarters to achieve the economic growth target of 6.3 percent for this year.