T

he holiday resort island of Bali will soon wrap up the year 2012 with outstanding economic performance that has boosted its annual growth to 6.6 percent, higher than the average national economic growth of only 6.1 percent, a prominent banker has said.

Dwi Pranoto, head of Bank Indonesia (the central bank) for Bali and Nusa Tenggara region, said that amid the global economic downturn, Indonesia, particularly Bali, had shown strong economic growth above 6 percent, alongside low inflation of around 4.6 percent, which he said was extraordinary.

Pranoto was speaking during the annual bankers’ gathering to evaluate 2012 economic performance and forecast the island’s economic outlook for 2013 in Denpasar on Wednesday afternoon.

“If we can maintain this flourishing economic activity, we predict Bali will have economic growth of around 6.79 percent to 7.1 percent in 2013,” said Pranoto, saying the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted global economic growth of 2 percent in 2013.

“The expansive growth of infrastructure and property development has contributed to the high economic growth. Tourism and creative industries will always be the island’s main economic drivers,” he said.

Pranoto, however, warned that Bali’s impressive economic growth was still prone to various problems for the island’s 3.9 million population.

“Economic development in Bali has always been above the national level for the last four years. This can lead to a widening gap between the growing middle class and the poor, leaving some quite vulnerable. The robust development benefits mostly the middle class while, somehow, leaving the poor becoming poorer,” he said.

The number of poor households across Bali was estimated to be around 134,804, or around 4.18 percent of the total population, quite a significant figure, he said.

He also warned that Bali’s strong dependency on tourism made it vulnerable. “The global economic shakeup will certainly have a huge impact on Bali’s economy,” he warned.

Ketut Wija, second assistant to Bali provincial administration dealing with economic affairs, said that to reduce the island’s economic gap, the government, banking industry and private sector must develop an integrated platform to enhance economic activities outside tourism.

The present infrastructure development projects, such as the construction of an underpass in Kuta, a toll road connecting Benoa and Ngurah Rai International Airport, as well as a toll road connecting Denpasar and Karangasem regency, were expected to accelerate the distribution of economic activity.

The planned development of an airport and fishing harbor in Buleleng, as well as extension of the Benoa cruise port, were to be the administration’s first priority in 2013.

Wija said that investment in 2011 reached Rp 16.23 trillion (US$1.7 billion) and was expected to reach Rp 18.29 trillion by the end of December 2012.

Bali, West and East Nusa Tenggara provinces are included in corridor 5 of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI).

“The three provinces are designated as main national tourism gates and national food reserve areas, meaning that tourism and agriculture [fishery and husbandry] will be our major priorities in luring investments and developing economic activities,” Wija said. By developing fishery and husbandry, Bali will spread economic development to coastal and rural areas.