GDP growth slows in fourth quarter

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 02/16/2009 6:13 PM  

Indonesia's economic expansion slowed in the fourth quarter of 2008 as a result of the global economic downturn, the Central Statistic Agency reported Monday, according to the Antara news agency. 

The economy grew by 5.2 percent in the quarter, compared to the same period last year, a decline from 6.1 percent in the July-September period, the agency said. 

On a quarterly basis, the economy contracted 3.6 percent, faltering from 3.5 percent growth in the third quarter. 

While it is normal for the Indonesian economy to contract in the last three months of the year because of seasonal harvests, 2008's figure was exaggerated by a plunge in global commodities prices that hurt exports and subsequently household consumption. 

The agency said that Indonesia's economy grew 6.1 percent in 2008, slowing from 6.3 percent in 2007 and falling slightly short of the government's 6.2 percent target. 

"Our economy started to feel the impact of the global crisis in the fourth quarter," Agency Chairman Rusman Heriawan was quoted by the AFP as telling Dow Jones newswires. 

The government expects the economic downturn to linger, predicting a growth rate of 4.5 to 4.7 percent this year. 

A Dow Jones Newswires poll of nine regional economists yielded a median forecast for 5.70 percent on-year expansion in the fourth quarter of last year.