RI’s economic growth more balanced, IMF says

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s economic growth will become stronger and more balanced next year on the back of surging investment along with high domestic consumption, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says.

IMF senior resident representative for Indonesia Milan Zavadjil said on Tuesday in Jakarta that investment, especially in the construction, machinery and manufacturing sectors, would continue to pick up as Indonesia was less vulnerable to the impacts of escalating global turmoil.

“The fact that Indonesia is less vulnerable, that the slowdown growth in Indonesia is less than in other countries, brings investors’ attention to Indonesia and so investment is focusing more on Indonesia,” he said on the sidelines of the 2011 CEO Forum hosted by the Indonesian Publicly Listed Companies Association.

Earlier, the IMF forecast that Southeast Asia’s largest economy would grow by 6.3 percent — similar to the Central Bank’s forecast — next year, outperforming the overall world’s economic expansion of 4 percent.

Until the third quarter of this year, total investment has reached Rp 181 trillion (US$19.91 billion), up 20.9 percent from the same period last year, and nearing the government’s full year target of Rp 240 trillion.