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mid high expectations among investors, the economic reality in Indonesia is less heartening, with analysts predicting further growth slowdown in the economy on weak consumption and underperforming investment.

Indonesia'€™s economy is likely to see further deceleration, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth likely to slip below 5 percent in the first quarter, which would be the slowest in six years, according to estimates from BNP Paribas, Mandiri Sekuritas and OCBC Bank.

'€œThe slowdown might derive from muted consumption and weaker-than-expected investment, in addition to the fact that some of the government spending projects have yet to be realized,'€ said Aldian Taloputra, the head of economic research at Mandiri Sekuritas.

The last time Indonesia'€™s economic growth fell below 5 percent was in the third quarter of 2009, when the economy expanded by a mere 4.1 percent as it felt the pinch of weak external demand stemming from the financial crisis in the US.

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, meanwhile, is aiming for the economy to grow at 5.7 percent this year, before peaking at a minimal 7 percent during his five-year presidency.

However, his government is now facing a structural deceleration in the economy. GDP growth had slowed for four consecutive years to grow at a mere 5 percent in 2014.Further slowdown is expected, as the country'€™s leading economic indicators have recently shown a downward trend.

Car sales, an indicator of consumption and people'€™s purchasing power, fell 14 percent year-on-year in the first quarter while cement sales, a yardstick for investment, tumbled 3.2 percent, association data show.

Meanwhile, motorcycle sales slumped 24.7 percent in March from a year earlier.

'€œThe lagged impact of monetary policy tightening and fuel price hikes last year probably provided a squeeze on domestic demand in the first quarter, on top of the soft export performance,'€ Credit Suisse economist Santitarn Sathirathai said via email on Friday.

Sathirathai argued that while the economy might rebound in the second half following the materialization of infrastructure projects, the risk of fiscal revenue shortfall might force the government to pare back spending more than expected.

Even after the slowdown, the economy might not rebound very soon, with year-on-year growth prints in the second quarter likely to be even weaker, predicted Philip McNicholas, an economist with BNP Paribas.

'€œThere are issues of weaker momentum carried over from the first quarter, a still sluggish investment execution and a challenging statistical base,'€ he said on Friday.

However, Philip argued that the growth print should not be met with too much anxiety. '€œWhile a sub-five percent growth is weaker than Indonesia has experienced for some time, it remains well above a number of global peers,'€ he said.

Like Indonesia, other countries are also experiencing a slowdown, with the most notable example being China, which grew by the slowest level in six years at 7 percent in the first quarter.

Analysts have said that given the underperformance of fiscal policy through government spending, with realization of infrastructure remaining sluggish this year, the burden to spur growth this year might lie on Bank Indonesia (BI), which is expected to cut its interest rates and take a more pro-growth stance.

'€œPolicymakers may eventually head toward dovish bias,'€ commented Helmi Arman, the chief economist of Citibank Indonesia.

'€œWe think the central bank'€™s concerns will eventually recede as incoming economic data should continue showing soft growth and a weaker-than-expected improvement in imports,'€ he noted.