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2018 GDP growth nothing to write home about, forecast suggests
Private lender United Overseas Bank (UOB) Indonesia expects only a slight uptick in GDP growth next year.
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Containers are loaded and discharged at Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
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rivate lender United Overseas Bank (UOB) Indonesia expects only a slight uptick in GDP growth next year. UOB economist Enrico Tanuwidjaja has estimated that the domestic economy will grow by 5.3 percent in 2018, a shy increase from this year’s growth prediction of 5.1 to 5.2 percent.
“We believe the Indonesian government’s commitment to improve the country’s investment climate will lead to increasing business activity and foreign investments,” Enrico said at a seminar in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Mining, infrastructures and service businesses were believed to be next year’s prime growth movers, he added.
In the 2018 state budget approved by the House of Representatives, the government assumes economic growth of 5.4 percent next year.
Meanwhile, University of Indonesia professor of economics Ari Kuncoro estimated that the year of 2018 would see continued sluggish household spending in what he called “the new normal.”
“However, it is not because of weakening purchasing power, but rather because of the tendency to save up money, especially among the middle class,” Ari said, adding that the 2018 annual consumption rate would be at around 4.9 percent. (bbn)
