"We are continuing to monitor economic changes caused by the the digital era," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said. "The retail industry has come to our attentions because it is related to public consumption."

Publicly listed retailer PT Mitra Adiperkasa plans to stop the operation this month of three Lotus stores in Jakarta and in West Java's Bekasi and Cibubur, following its closure of two other stores because of their poor financial performance.

Last month, publicly listed retailers PT Matahari Department Store and PT Ramayana Lestari Sentosa also closed some of their stores.

Even so, value-added tax from retail transactions increased in September despite the situation, Sri Mulyani said.

"So, perhaps there's a [digital] disruption," she said. "We will also look into other sectors to find out if they are facing a similar issue so we can formulate the appropriate policy."

Year-on-year consumption grew moderately by 4.94 percent n the first quarter and 4.95 percent in the second quarter, when the periods usually see growth of about 5 percent.

The national economy stagnated at 5.01 percent growth in the first half of 2017, compared to the government's year-end target of 5.2 percent. (bbn)

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