Thursday, September 24, 2009

ADB revises up Indonesia's GDP forecast

Source: Xinhua News

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has raised its economic growth forecasts for Indonesia in 2009 to 4.3 percent from an earlier estimation of 3.6 percent in March, according to media reports.

 The revision was made as the bank said the region is leading a global recovery but warned against ending stimulus efforts too quickly, the Jakarta globe said.

 The Indonesian government expects the economy to register growth at 4.3 percent this year. The World Bank on Sept. 14 raised its forecast on Indonesia's GDP to 4.3 percent from earlier prediction of 3.5 percent.

The ADB said that "robust growth in private consumption, underpinned by easing inflation and a surge in election-related government spending, drove better-than-expected economic growth in the first half of 2009."

The bank said that the country's "fiscal stimulus measures supported growth. Net exports contributed to the expansion as imports contracted faster than exports, though investment weakened."

"Relative to forecasts made in March this year, the full-year growth projections are revised up for 2009 and 2010, and inflation will likely be lower. Risks to the outlook include higher-than-expected oil prices, which would propel inflation and hurt consumption, and dry weather that could damage harvests," it said.

 The ADB's region-wide forecast was also raised from 3.4 percent to 3.9 percent.

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