TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Survey sees slower biz expansion in first quarter
Expansion in the business sector is likely to slow down in the first quarter of 2008, emulating a similar trend in the previous quarter, a Bank Indonesia survey says
Change Size
Expansion in the business sector is likely to slow down in the first quarter of 2008, emulating a similar trend in the previous quarter, a Bank Indonesia survey says.
According to the survey released Monday, the nation's business sector expanded by 15.25 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, a drop from 21.99 percent the previous quarter, which was the highest quarterly growth recorded in 2007.
In the first quarter of last year, the sector contracted by 0.24 percent.
It is estimated the decline in the last quarter will continue into the first quarter of this year, in part because of slower demand, the survey found.
Entrepreneurs, the survey respondents, said although there would be an increase in business activities in almost all sectors in the first quarter of this year, the growth would be slower than in the previous quarter.
"Growth in business expansion will occur mostly during the first quarter of this year in industries such as processing at 5.81 percent, and mining and exploration at 4.47 percent.
"Agriculture, farming, forestry and fisheries will grow at 3.7 percent, and services at 3.18 percent," BI's director for economic and monetary statistics, Triono Widodo, said when launching the survey.
Triono added while the business climate was expected to improve, only 22.37 percent of the respondents said they would invest in expansion during the first quarter of this year.
This figure is lower than that in the first quarter of 2007, 27.54 percent.
Most respondents said interest rates were the main barrier to investment, followed by poor infrastructure, banking access and licensing procedures.
The survey, which involves more than 2,500 companies across the country, is conducted by the central bank every quarter, except for investment, which is conducted in the second and fourth quarters.
The companies surveyed operate in nine sectors that contribute significantly to the economy, including agriculture, mining, infrastructure, trade and services.
