Indonesian economy doing well

The Straits Times

INDONESIA'S economy is 'doing quite well' despite global financial turmoil, with exports crossing US$100 billion (S$146.35 billion) and forex reserves at their highest, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's spokesman said on Tuesday. 

Mr Dino Patti Djalal said economic growth is robust and the ratio of debt to the gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen to 35 per cent from as high as 80 per cent during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998. 

GDP is the value of all goods and services produced in the economy. 

'We are doing quite well. We are achieving the highest growth since the (1997-1998) crisis. Exports have exceeded 100 billion dollars,' he told a forum in Singapore organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies - Asia. 

'Our reserves (are) the highest ever in our history.' 

Indonesia was among the economies hit hardest by the Asian financial crisis a decade ago, requiring a massive lifeline from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to pull it back from bankruptcy and save the spiralling rupiah currency. 

The country has since rebounded, and the central bank said the economy was on track to grow at around 6.3 per cent in the third quarter despite global instability triggered by the collapse of the sub-prime, or higher-risk, mortgage market in the US beginning last year. 

Mr Yudhoyono on Monday assured there was no danger of a repeat of the Asian crisis. 

Indonesian shares plunged 10 per cent by the close of trade on Monday when the market reopened following a break last week after the fasting month of Ramadan. 

It was the market's biggest one-day percentage fall since 1998. 

Mr Djalal acknowledged that the Indonesian share market had not done well in the past few days but stressed that 'it has been doing very well in the past several years.' 

He said Indonesia's credit ratings are also at their highest since the Asian meltdown and recalled that the country has repaid its loan to the IMF four years ahead of schedule. 

While the economy is doing well, poverty and unemployment remain serious challenges, Mr Djalal said. -- AFP